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A STUDENT REVERIE 



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STUDENT REVERIE 

An Album of Saxony Days 

(FREIBERG NEAR DRESDEN) 



BY 

FREDERICK GLEASON CORNING 

E.M.,LL.D. 



'Speak to the Earth and 
it shall teach thee." 



NEW YORK 
1920 



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Copyright, 1920, by 
Frederick G. Corning 



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TO MY WIFE 
MARION ADELINE VERNON CORNING 



CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Freiberg the City 3 

Freiberg Mines 9 

Freiberg Royal Mining Academy 17 

Freiberg Life 37 

Contrasts in Outlook, Then and Now — The Careless 
Simplicities of Youth vs. The Burdensome Complexities 
of Maturity 



ILLUSTRATIONS 

Plate I Frontispiece 

Freiberg, Saxony (20 miles from Dresden) 

FACING PAGE 

Plate II 4 

The Cathedral (Doni) and Market Place 
King John of Saxony 
The Moritz Tomb in Dom 
The Pulpits in Dom 

Plate III 5 

Herders Ruhe 
Kreuz Brunnen 
Park (Freudenstein) 
Donats Thurm 

Plate IV , 6 

Karl Theodor Korner 

Plate V 7 

Freiberg Obermarkt 

One of the larger Freiberg Mines 

Plate VI 8 

Alexander von Humboldt (Photogravure) 

Plate VII 10 

Gabriel Auguste Daubree 

Plate VIII 11 

Freiberg Smelting and Chemical Works 

Plate IX 14 

Some Freiberg Ores 

Plate X 16 

Royal Freiberg Mining Academy 
Hotel de Saxe, Freiberg 

Plate XI 17 

Abraham Gottlob Werner 
Christian Leopold von Buch 



ILLUSTRATIONS 

FACING PAGE 

Plate XII .. - 18 ' 

Werner's Tomb 

Plate XIII 19 

Bernard von Cotta 

Plate XIV 22 

Friedrich August Breithaupt 
Friedrich Mohs 
Carl Friedrich Naumann 
Wilhelm August Lampadius 

Plate XV 23 

Carl Friedrich Plattner 

Julius Weisbach 

Ferdinand Reich 

Moritz Ferdinand Gatzschmann 

Plate XVI 24 

Theodor Scheerer 
Gustav Zeuner 
Friedrich August Breithaupt 
Bernard von Cotta 

Plate XVII 25 

Twelve of the Freiberg Faculty 

1. Viertel 7. Stelzner 

2. Kreischer 8. Weisbach 

3. Undeutsch 9. Ledebur 

4. Gretschel 10. Erhardt 

5. Richter 11. Gottschalk 

6. Winkler 12. Leuthold 

Plate XVIII 26 

Albin Weisbacli 

Clemens Winkler 

Theodor Richter ("Rektor") 

Plate XIX 27 

Alfred Stelzner 
Jack Hammond 
Pliilip J. Octtingcr 

Plate XX 30 

James Furman Kemp (Photogravure) 



ILLUSTRATIONS 

FACING PAGE 

Plate XXI 36 

Raphael Pumpelly 
Gardner F. Williams 
Philip J. Oettinger 

Plate XXII 37 

The Werner Monument 
Schweden Denkmal 

Plate XXIII 38 

Raphael Pumpelly (Photogravure) 

Plate XXIV 40 

Gardner F. Williams (Photogravure) 

Plate XXV 44 

James Duncan Hague 

Plate XXVI 45 

Louis Janin 

Plate XXVII 46 

Rossiter Worthington Raymond 

Plate XXVIII 47 

Samuel Franklin Emmons 

Plate XXIX 48 

John Hays Hammond (Photogravure) 

Plate XXX 52 

Waldemar Lindgren 

Plate XXXI 53 

James Benton Grant 

Plate XXXII 54 

An American Underground Threesome 

Plate XXXIII 55 

An International Trio of Convivial Freibergers (White, 
McKee, Pratten) 

Plate XXXIV . 56 

A Freiberg Mine Survey Party 

Plate XXXV 57 

An Underground Anglo-American Quintette 



ILLUSTRATIONS 

FACINQ PAGE 

Plate XXXVI 58 

A Yale Freiberg Trio (Cunningham, Hawley, Hammond) 

Plate XXXVII 59 

Freiberg Superintendent in Parade Uniform 

Franklin Guiterman 

A Germanized American Freiberg Dandy (A. J. Bowie of 

California) 
Edgar P. Ratlibone 

Plate XXXVIII 60 

A Real German Beauty 

Plate XXXIX 61 

Cesar Vicuna 

Plate XL 62 

North and South America at Freiberg (Frederick Gleason 
Corning, Cesar Vicuna) 

Plate XLI 63 

A Trio of Kid Glove Miners (Stoiber, Corning, Guiterman) 

Plate XLII 65 

The Three Mining Graces (Mrs. Victor Clement, Mrs. Fred 
Corning, Mrs. Jack Hammond) 

Plate XLIII 66 

Marion AdeUne Vernon Corning (Photogravure) 

Plate XLIV 68 

Frederick Gleason Corning (Photogravure) 

PAGE 

Vignette 69 

Gluck-Auf 



Cxii: 



A STUDENT REVERIE 



FREIBERG THE CITY 




REIBERG, in Saxony, and its Royal 
School of Mines (Konigliche Sachsische 
Bergakademie) are historically of un- 
usual scientific interest and importance. 
The city was founded in 1175. Its fa- 
mous silver-lead-copper mines, collec- 
tively considered one of the greatest mining regions of 
Europe, were discovered in the twelfth century, while 
its celebrated Mining Academy was established in 1765 
under government supervision and patronage. 

Forty-three years ago, or say about 1875 to 1880, the 
period of my studies there, the city had a population of 
20,000, which had grown to about 30,000 in 1895. It is 
situated twenty miles southwest of Dresden, in the Erz- 
gebirge (Ore Range) on the Miinzbach near its conflu- 
ence with the Mulde, and is the center of general ad- 
ministration of the mining and metallurgical industries 
throughout Saxony. 

The usual new-world notion of a mining town or 
"camp" as a hurriedly erected, incomplete if not even 
dilapidated, collection of improvised houses and smok- 
ing, whistling works, dotted with ugly mining dumps 
fringed with tin cans and other unsightly refuse — evi- 
dences of crude, unsettled living — in no sense applies to 
Freiberg. In every way the picture now unfolding 
shows a situation quite the contrary. 
As the foremost mining center and an ancient impe- 



A STUDENT REVERIE 



rial city, long the residence of the Saxon princes, there 
were bestowed upon Freiberg many important privi- 
leges. These princely rulers were the grandee electors 
who, in armored pomp, elected the king, and whom the 
artists of old were wont to borrow as picturesque mod- 
els for immortalization in the masterpieces of the epoch, 
now so worshipful in quality and price. Perhaps, even, 
the figures on our playing cards originated away back 
herel Again, surrounded by this wealth of nature, may 
not these earliest blooded sports have also been the dis- 
covering coterie who showed the way to "Wein, Weib 
und Gesang"? As they were in fact the original king- 
makers, much was expected of them by the royal de- 
mand of the day for choice revelous accompaniments! 

They must have been the "real things" in kingly birds 
of Paradise; crafty courtiers, no doubt, but, by profes- 
sion, efficiency experts in Kingology, as it were. They 
knew the game of Courts and Kings, and doled out to the 
adoring people as square a deal as their manifest grati- 
tude and well-being appeared to warrant. And the grate- 
ful people followed gladly in their leaders' many aspira- 
tions and creations, from precious metals to rulers. 

To these autocrats the modern-day confused tenets 
and disjointed applications of democracy would have 
sounded like the weird jargon of missing-link savages. 
But they achieved results in progressive upbuilding, 
nevertheless, by the most sacred forms of secret diplo- 
macy. And the people were happy and appreciative. Are 
they either now? Perchance the world may yet need to 
close down the lid once more on "das liebe Volk," and 
invoke the resurrected wisdom of these shrewd nobility- 
philosophers who knew the king business so well in all 
its bearings 1 Moreover, these princes of power and en- 
terprise were the ideal monopolists of old, for they 
owned the treasures beneath the earth, the waters on 
top for their silver extraction (the mints inclusive), and 
the air above through which came from on High the 



Plate II 




THE CATHEDRAL (DOM) AND 
MARKET PLACE 



KING JOHN OF SAXONY 

Reigned 1834 to 187:5 
Succeeded by his son Albert 




THE MORITZ TOMB IN DOM 



THE PULPITS IN DOM 



Plate III 




HE1\DERS RUHE 



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FREIBERG THE CITY 



Divine Right of Kings of their own creation who hence 
"could do no wrong." Here was, indeed, a royal sweep 
of monopoly. They coveted not the kingly bothers and 
responsibilities, preferring rather to hold themselves 
the mysterious power for imperial creations, for, in re- 
turn, their royal handiwork-appointees held the devoted 
people in the hollows of their hallowed hands, thus clos- 
ing the monopolistic circle. Freiberg then was incu- 
bated in this proud atmosphere of treasure and privilege. 

After "business hours," by way of diversion, the chief 
concern of the many petty rulers of the day over the 
numerous principalities of crazy-quilt contrasts, ap- 
pears to have been waging alternate campaigns of tres- 
pass and defense. In the latter event, the exclusiveness 
of our Freiberg princes became cleverly discreet, for 
they elected to follow the fashionable precedent of prepa- 
ration and built their own great bastioned walls. Hence 
in 1187 this city of royal resource and importance started 
its enterprise of permanent defense. And to-day long 
sections of the old moss-grown walls of bygone cen- 
turies still stand picturesquely amid shadecf parks and 
encircling romantic walks. 

These ancient fragmentary ruins enclose, among 
other things of more than passing interest, a fifteenth- 
century cathedral of Gothic beauty, whose "Goldene 
Pforte" is a richly adorned portal in Byzantine style, a 
surviving remnant from an older church built in the 
twelfth century, whose sculptures rank high in me- 
dieval art. The group is an allegorical representation 
of the Kingdom of God, with reliefs and statues of Old 
and New Testament types and scenes. Behind the altar 
is the impressive burial chapel of the noted Protestant 
princes of Saxony, adorned with sculptured monuments 
of rare, quaint beauty, among which is one of Prince 
Maurice, who fell in the battle of Sievershausen in 1553. 
There is also a monument to Werner (born 1750), who 
is interred here, one of the foremost scientists of Frei- 

1:53 



A STUDENT REVERIE 



berg's early days. In the adjoining Lady Chapel are the 
remains of Henry the Pious and his successors down to 
Johann Georg IV, who died in 1694. 

If these German blue-blood warriors really looked 
the part in life, as fit and high and noble as their patron 
artists have here portrayed and forever preserved them 
in bronze, stone, and color, they were surely qualified 
for any beauty show on earth or in the heavens above. 
But it may well be doubted whether, in the highest 
flights of earthly class-conceit, these tough old knights, 
now in prayerful repose, ever dreamed themselves such 
pretty persons of unsullied purity. 

But perhaps the oldest of all the Freiberg relics is the 
castle of Freudenstein in the suburbs of the city, built 
in 1175 as part of its system of defense. Within these 
grounds there was erected in 1851 a monument to 
Werner, the father of geology, and in 1874 a statue was 
placed there in commemoration of the soldiers who fell 
in the Franco-German War of 1870-71. In 1762 a 
famous battle was fought hereabouts between Prus- 
sians under Prince Henry and Austrians under General 
Hadik, who was defeated. 

Reverence and high regard for these monumental 
landmarks of history were inborn among the old-world 
peoples — the non-utilitarian aspect being of small mo- 
ment. But the average careless student had little con- 
cern for these relics of hoariest, sacred antiquity, for 
primarily he was not "doing" this mining citadel and 
its exacting course of study for other than extra-tech- 
nical, material purposes. Frankly speaking, useful 
knowledge and worldly gain were the goal of his ambi- 
tion, so Baedeker's guide-book had small place in a 
Freiberg library. 

Passing along now nearly one hundred years, it was 
on September 25, 1850, that the centennial birthday 
of Werner was celebrated at Freiberg and the Royal 
Academy with great pomp and impressive enthusiasm, 



161 



Plate IV 




KARL THEODOR KORNER 

Freiberg, 1808 
Famous Lyric Poet 
Born at Dresden, September 23, 1791 ; died on the battle-fleld at Gadebuseh, in Mecklen 
burs, August 2fi, 1813. 

Also studied at Leipsic and Berlin. Continued his literary career in Vienna 
1S1I was made "Poet to the Court Theatre. 



and in 
His complete works were published in 1831. 



Pl.ATK V 




FREIBERG OHEKMAKKT 




OXE 01' THE I.ARCER I"REIBERr. MINES 
(Hiinnull'alirt) 



FREIBERG THE CITY 



an event at that time of wide interest among scientific 
circles throughout Europe. 

Primarily, of course, Freiberg owed its eventual great 
rise and fame to the discovery and widely expanded 
operation of its mines through the centuries; but later 
there also flourished here extensive manufactories of 
gold and silver lace, woolen, linen and cotton goods, also 
iron, copper and brass wares, shot, gunpowder, white 
lead, beer, etc. Besides the various old buildings com- 
posing the Mining Academy and its laboratories, the 
other public edifices are the town hall of the fifteenth 
century, the "Gymnasium" and "Realschule," a female 
burgher school, new law courts, barracks, an antiqua- 
rian museum, a natural history museum, and a pre- 
paratory mining school for training mine foremen, 
mechanics, etc. 

Here then, in Saxony, was an old-established com- 
munity and a sizable city, permanent in a sense rarely 
found in mining, and combining associations of mo- 
mentous historic and political import with industrial 
and academic resources quite unique and alone in their 
singular individuality. 



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ALEXANDER VON HUMBOLDT 

(BARON FRIEDRICH HEINRICH ALEXANDER VON HUMBOLDT) 

BORN— BERLIN SEPT. 14. 1769; DIED — BERLIN MAY 6. 1859. MINING ENGINEER AT 

FREIBERG 1791 



FREIBERG MINES 




HE celebrated Freiberg series of veins 
and cross-veins occur in the gneiss rocks 
of the "Sachsische Erzgebirge," and be- 
long mainly to the older types of fissure 
lodes falling under the general class of 
metalliferous deposits formed relatively 
near the surface by ascending thermal waters in genetic 
connection with igneous rocks. The prevailing gray 
and red gneiss country rock occurs in many different 
structural varieties and shades, and passes over into 
mica schists and beds of limestone in places — the entire 
formation being traversed by dikes of porphyry and 
basalts. Among several hundred veins in the district, 
more than half have been worked as mines; and owing 
to the unusually wide extent and great variety of the 
veins and ores of Freiberg and its suburban districts, 
and because of there having been made accessible 
through the centuries by innumerable mine workings 
hundreds of miles in aggregate on the strike and dip, 
unequalled opportunities were afforded for the obser- 
vation and study of vein phenomena such as the rela- 
tions of vein filling to wall-rock, vein crossings, fault- 
ing, their behavior in depth, and the genesis of ore de- 
posits in general. The Rothschonberger Stollen alone, 
the main navigable Freiberg deep adit, 10 x 10 feet, 
some thirty miles long and thirty-three years in build- 
ing (the longest in the world), connects up the many 
groups of mines in the entire district, and drains their 

1:93 



A STUDENT REVERIE 



collective waters into the Elbe River above Meissen, 
which will give some idea of the immense amount of 
cross-cut work besides the regular drifting and sinking 
done in this network of vein-systems. 

So it came to pass that Freiberg was visited by min- 
ing and geological aspirants and scientists from all the 
mineral districts and educational centers of the world 
— many governments sending their brightest young 
men there to pursue, practically, mining and metallurgy 
for the development of their home industries. 

Among the earlier celebrities it was particularly 
Gatzschmann and Breithaupt of Freiberg, and Daubree 
of France, who, in their investigations, made important 
discoveries respecting lode and country-rock metamor- 
phosis. The former found that the impregnations of 
mispickel in the decomposed lode-enclosing gneiss were 
still going on and were caused by the internal decom- 
positions active within the lodes themselves. Daubree, 
in his "Etudes sur le Metamorphisme," defined these 
peculiar phenomena: "les depots metalliferes ne sont 
que des cas particuliers de phenomenes metamor- 
phiques." The researches of these pioneers in the 
science of ore deposits tended to show that most fissure 
ore deposits, not essentially consisting of hydrated per- 
oxide of iron, were formed not on the surface of the 
earth, but at considerable depths below, and, through 
transformation, have taken on their present appear- 
ance and character; and that accordingly, and because 
of the participation of water in the origin and trans- 
formation, the formations should be properly desig- 
nated as hydroplutonic. 

These vein-systems of complex and diverse types and 
ages have been studied and scientifically described by 
modern as well as by the older geologists and scientists 
of renown. Others of the recognized local authorities 
of the past who became widely known through their 
studies and learned brochures on Freiberg were: A. G. 



Plate VII 




GABRIEL AUGUSTE DAUBREE 

Born at Metz June 25, 1814; died at Paris, Franee, May 30, 189fi 

Honorary Member American Institute of Mining Engineers 

Brilliant Frenchman, and famous geologist of the day. One of the notable authorities 

and \\Titers on Freiberg. Made many conlributions to geology, mineralogy, and hydrology. 

Studied at the Ecole Polytechnique, Paris, and at the Ecole des Mines, Paris; graduated 

as Mining Engineer. 

Traveled in (ireat Britain, Gernianj', Algiers. In 183S, Mining Official in the Department 
of the Upper Rhine and also Professor of Geology in the Academy of Strasburg. In 1861, 
chair of geology in the Musee des Sciences Naturelles at Paris. Later Professor of 
Geology in the Ecole des Mines, and, in 1807, Inspector General of Klines. In 1872 Direc- 
tor of the iScole des Mines for fourteen years. In 1879 author of Etudes Synthetiques de 
Geologie Experimentale, followed by publication in 1887 of three large volumes: 

One volume on: "Les Eaux Souterraines aux Epoques anciennes. Role qui leur 
revient dans I'origine et les modifications de la substance de I'ecorce terrestre." 

Two volumes on: "Les Eaux Souteri-aines, a TEpoquc Actuelle, leur regime, leur 
temperature, leur composition, au point de vue du role qui leur revient dans I'economie 
de I'ecorce terrestre." 



> 

< 




FREIBERG MINES 



Werner (1791), A. von Weissenbach (1836), J. C. Freis- 
leben (1843), F. C. von Beust (1840), Bernard von 
Gotta (1861), and H. Miiller (1849-1900). 

The older veins were usually grouped by these 
writers under four heads or vein-types, as follows: 

(a) Noble Quartz Formation ("Edle Quarz Formation") : 
meaning high-grade or rich silver ores; fine quartz, argen- 
tite, native silver, pyrargyrite, pyrites, arsenopyrite, etc. 

(&) Pyritic Lead Formation ("Kiesige Bleiformation") : 
quartz, galena, pyrite, zincblende, arsenopyrite, chalcopjrite. 

(c) Noble Lead Formation ("Edle Bleiformation") : quartz, 
rhodochrosite, ankerite, galena, pyrite, zinc, tetrahedrite, py- 
rargyrite, polybasite, and proustite. 

(d) Tin Formation : cassiterite, chalcopyrite, quartz, arseno- 
pyrite, fluorite, etc. 

The younger veins were classed as the Barytic Lead 
Formation ( "Bary tische Bleiformation" ) : galena ( low in 
silver), chalcopyrite, tetrahedrite and blende, quartz, cal- 
cite. They were usually found to run relatively strong 
and of considerable width, frequently carrying nickel 
and cobalt minerals as well. Authorities of the day as- 
signed them to the Tertiary age, and probably connected 
with the basaltic eruptions of that geological period. 

The older group are by some authorities considered 
to be genetically related to the intrusions of granitic 
rocks of the Garboniferous age — more specially defined 
as lodes formed relatively near the surface, the metallic 
ingredients being carried upward in eruptive rocks now 
largely eroded. Their economical value, however, has 
been proven by profitable operations to depths of from 
1500 to over 2000 feet, with ore continually still normal, 
it is claimed (?). 

The "Edle Quarz Formation" was found to be inter- 
sected by dikes of quartz porphyry, but little, if any, 
typical granite appears in the Freiberg mines proper, 
though granitic structural developments of the gneiss 
are quite common. The ore bodies or "shoots" are 
rather irregular in these veins, collectively considered. 



A STUDENT REVERIE 



but some of the more extensive bodies of specially high 
grade and large tonnage frequently occur along the 
zones of vein-intersections. The rocks which appear 
to favor the deposit of ores in the traversing fissures, 
sometimes termed the "ore carriers," cannot be desig- 
nated absolutely, their influence being only relative and 
local. Rut in quite a general way, without regard to 
the particular formation, the lodes of economical im- 
portance may be said to live and yield better in com- 
pact rocks in which quartz, feldspar, or hornblende, as 
well as carbon (graphite) or carbonate of lime, form 
essential ingredients; while on the other hand, within 
less compact or shattered micaceous or magnesian 
rocks, the ore deposition has shown unfavorable devel- 
opment. Sharp and significant distinctions are made 
between the typical Freiberg gray gneiss and the red 
gneiss, although there are many intermediate grades 
and transition zones between the two varieties which 
cannot be properly assigned to one or the other. The 
normal gray gneiss, however, appears in the Erzgebirge 
more decidedly to favor the metalliferous contents of 
the veins than the red gneiss, which latter carries few 
veins, as a matter of fact. Moreover, where the red 
variety (containing the red feldspar) does occur well 
defined, it appears intrusively as an igneous rock even 
carrying occasional enclosed fragments of the gray, or 
again it actually courses as a defined dike of gneissic- 
granitic structure. 

The distinctions between the normal Freiberg gray 
gneiss and the red have been chemically and micro- 
scopically analyzed as follows: 

Freiberg Gneiss 
Normal Gray Gneiss Red Gneiss 

Silica 64-67%. Silica 74-767r. 

Ingredients: orthoclase. Ingredients: orthoclase, 

some oligoclase, quartz, and cjnartz, and small amount of 

much dark mica. light mica. 

1:123 



FREIBERG MINES 



In the Pyritic-Galena-Quartz Veins of the Freiberg 
"Kiesige Bleiformation" that have been mined to depths 
of over two thousand feet, the galena contains one tenth 
to two tenths per cent, of silver, but the pyrites, zinc- 
blende, and arsenopyrite run poor in silver. 

Although the ores, as a whole, in these numerous vein- 
systems are complex, the method of treatment at the 
mines was comparatively simple, consisting of crush- 
ing and mechanical ore dressing or concentration at or 
near the main shafts and surface plants of the various 
groups of properties, and shipment of the products to 
government smelters centrally located. Labor being 
very cheap, the ore was hand-assorted into many ship- 
ping classes, according to metal contents and suitable- 
ness for the smelting processes. The poorer grades 
remaining were crushed, classified, treated on jigs, per- 
cussion and revolving tables, and other washing ap- 
paratus of the primitive old-school types. Mechanical 
concentration, one of the basic branches of economic 
mining, owes its development, in great measure, to the 
Freiberg masters — the names, works, and achievements 
of such men as Rittinger and Gatzschmann being stand- 
ard among the old-world constructive authorities in the 
ore-dressing art of that early formative period. In later 
years, of course, the entire plant and practice became 
greatly revolutionized and improved through United 
States leadership, so that much of the older apparatus 
and hand labor manipulations no longer have place in 
the present state of the art. 

In the production of the shipping ore classes, by hand 
sorting to a high degree of metal contents, and making 
the corresponding concentrates by the ore-dressing 
process, the aim was not only one of enrichment by 
discarding the waste rock, but also to create products 
for the smelters best suited in point of mineral and 
metallic constituency and combinations for their vari- 
ous processes. Some of the principal classes of ship- 
CIS] 



A STUDENT REVERIE 



ping products (ores and concentrates) were those in 
which (a) lead and silver predominated; (b) silver pre- 
dominating; (c) copper; (d) zinc; (e) arsenic; (/) 
pyrites, etc., etc. In general the gold contents were 
small, only certain ores of the richer variety carrying 
appreciable amounts. 

Illustrative of the economical character and sloping 
yield of Freiberg lodes, taken over a long period of 
time, the records show that for one hundred years (1765 
to 1865) the delivery or market value of the ore per 
running square yard of vein was in round figures 
$15, an average of the rich and poor ore shoots and the 
good and bad years and varying widths of ore bodies 
taken together. Furthermore, considering that the sta- 
tistical summaries show the total delivery or selling 
value of the mines' outputs for these same hundred 
years to have been $52,500,000, or at the rate of $525,000 
yearly, an idea may be had of the relatively restricted 
scale and attendant business results of the Freiberg 
operations. There were, of course, prosperous periods 
of bonanza-years with much larger yield than this 
average figure. While the profit margin and rate of 
returns in this old industry, employing thousands of 
men, hardly measured up to the modern speculative 
standards of the new-world get-rich-quick mining un- 
dertakings, yet the old-fashioned business policy and 
slow operating pace, it must be admitted, had the merits 
of extraordinary thoroughness, conservatism, and pa- 
tience, and the maintenance of the exploration and de- 
velopment work far afield assured wide extent of the 
ore ground in reserve for rainy days. 

Two extensive government smelting, refining, and 
chemical works treated the many and often complicated 
ores and ore products from the Freiberg fields, and 
those of other home districts and foreign markets as 
well, namely: Kgl. Muldner Hiitle and Kgl. Halsbriick- 
ner Hiitte. 



Plate IX 



SOME FREIBERG ORES 




I Galena. 



I Zincblende. Iron and Copper Pyrites. i i Baryta. ^H Gneiss. 



FREIBERG MINES 



These plants and their diversified processes became, 
in their way, as widely known as the Freiberg mines 
themselves. The furnaces, refineries, chemical and ac- 
cessory buildings, situated but short distances from the 
city proper, cover many acres widely distributed in 
their respective valleys. Some of the larger mines as 
well as these central smelting plants and many other 
works in Saxony are government-owned. 

While in the early days silver constituted the chief 
realizable value of the district's output, from 1845 on 
the proportionate value of other metals and of the mis- 
cellaneous by-products rose rapidly, as evidenced by 
these figures, compiled at wide intervals : 

Proportionate Values 

Miscellaneous Products 



Year 


Silver 


Lead 


Copp 


1845 


92% 


7% 


1% 


1875 


64% 


151/2% 


6% 


1902 


50% 


141/2% 


6% 



141/2% 
291/2% 

It is of scientific interest that, in addition to the fore- 
going principal products, there were produced at times 
quite a number of the very rare elements, among which 
were indium and germanium (discovered by Freiberg 
savants), also selenium, tellurium, thallium, platinum, 
palladium, and iridium. Indeed, the Freiberg works 
outranked all others of the day in their great variety 
of finished smelting and chemical products. 

After long record years of profitable activity on an 
expanding scale, the Freiberg mining and metallurgical 
industries declined to a point of prostration, largely 
through the disastrous fall and long-continued depres- 
sion in the silver market and, at times, in the prices of 
other metals as well. For example, in recalling the pre- 
vailing average prices per ounce for only twelve years 
of this low period — 

1897— 60.48«S; 1898—59.01^; 1899—60.15^; 

1900—62.00^; 1901—59.59^; 1902— 52.79{» ; 

1903—54.25^; 1904—57.87^; 1905—61.02^; 

1906—67.68^; 1907—66.15^; 1908—53.49^; 

CIS] 



A STUDENT REVERIE 



— it will be realized what a strain was put upon these old 
industries, not counting the increase in cost of mining 
with depth and wide extent of underground workings, 
cost of material, rates of wages, etc., and why the gov- 
ernment was so often obliged to come to their assist- 
ance. Whether these ancient mines will ever be profit- 
ably resurrected, now that high prices for silver again 
prevail, remains to be seen. 



cie] 



Plate X 




ROYAL FRETBERG MINING ACADEMY 

Interior Court of Principal Building 




HOTEL DE SAXE, FREIBERG 

Where the Americans met 



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N such an extraordinary mining atmos- 
phere as had early developed at Frei- 
berg, amid unique opportunities for the 
pursuit of scientific studies hand in 
hand with geological excursions and 
actual practice in the mines and smelt- 
ers, covering the basic and collateral branches of diver- 
sified metal mining — all situated in great expanding 
fields of ever new discoveries, enriching through the 
years the accumulated data of experience — no wonder 
that German inborn love of systematic learning and 
efficiency should have demanded here, in 1765, the es- 
tablishment of the Freiberg Mining Academy, "die 
alteste technische Hochschule der ganzen Erde" (the 
oldest technical "High College" in the world); and, in- 
deed, as it transpired, this state institution within range 
of the culture of Dresden, and the Kingdom of Saxony 
behind it, was not only the parent of all schools of 
mines, but for very many years of its acknowledged 
leadership was also the model for all similar colleges 
of later date. 

As a matter of historical interest, the men who, as 
presidents ("Rektor") and professors, have directed the 
destinies of this truly Royal School of Mines from its 
birth down to recent times, are here recorded in chrono- 
logical order, many of them having been, in fact, grad- 
uated from Freiberg: Generalbergkommissar Frhr. von 



A STUDENT REVERIE 



Heynitz (later Royal Prussian Minister) and Berg- 
hauptmann von Oppel to 1769; Berghauptmann Pabst 
von Ohain and Oberberghauptmann von Ponickau to 
1784; Berghauptmann B. von Heynitz to 1801; Ober- 
berghauptmann von Trebra to 1819; Oberberghaupt- 
mann Frhr. von Herder to 1838; Berghauptmann Freis- 
leben to 1842; Oberberghauptmann von Beust to 1869; 
Gustav Zeuner to 1875; Theodor Richter to 1896; 
Clemens Winkler to 1899; Adolf Ledebur to 1901; Erwin 
Papperitz to 1903; Geheimer Bergrath Prof. Adolf 
Ledebur, 1904; . . . Geheimer Bergrath E. Treptow, 
1910; . . . Oberbergrath Johannes Galli, 1915. 

Some of the more prominent professors from the 
beginning down to the present time, many of whom be- 
came of world renown, are: Chr. E. Gellert (Metallurgi- 
cal Chemistry), 1766-1795; J. Fr. W. von Charpentier 
(Mathematics, Mechanical Drawing, Mechanics), 1766- 
1784; A. G. Werner (Abraham Gottlob Werner), (Min- 
eralogy, Geology), 1775-1817; J. Fr. Lempe (Mathe- 
matics, Mechanics, Machinery), 1783-1801; W. A. 
Lampadius (Chemistry, Metallurgy, Chemical Tech- 
nology), 1794-1842; A. Breithaupt (Mineralogy, Crystal- 
lography), 1813-1866; Fr. Mohs (Mineralogy, Crystal- 
lography), 1818-1826; C. Fr. Naumann (Mineralogy, 
Crystallography, Physics), 1826-1842; F. Reich (Chem- 
istry, Physics), 1827-1860; C. M. Kersten (Chemistry), 
1829-1847; Julius L. Weisbach (Mathematics, Descrip- 
tive Geometry, Crystallography, Physics, Mechanics, 
Machinery, Mine Surveying), 1833-1871; M. F. Giitzsch- 
mann (Mining), 1835-1871; C. Fr. Plattner (Blow- 
Pipe Analysis, Chemistry, Metallurgy), 1842-1858; C. 
B. von Cotta (Geology, Paleontology, Ore Deposits), 
1842-1874; Fr. W. Fritzsche (Assaying, Metallurgy), 
1843-1873; C. J. A. Th. Scheerer (Chemistrv, Metal- 
lurgy), 1848-1873; H. Th. Richter (Metallurgy, Blow- 
Pipe Analysis), 1856-1896; Albin J. Weisbach (Mineral- 
ogy), 1860-1901; A. W. Stelzner (Geology, Paleontology, 



CIS] 



Plate XII 




WERNER'S TOMB 

In llie Freiberg Cathedral (Dom). 
Born, 1750; died, 1817 



Platk XIII 




3 'il 



BERNARD vox COTTA 

Born al Zillbach, Oclober 24, 1808; died at rreiberg, September U, 1S79; enrolled 
at Freiberg 1827. 

Succeeded Naiimann at tbe Uoyal Mining Academy from 1812-187 ( as Professor of 
Geology, Paleontology, and Ore Deposits. He conducted many geological surveys fi>r the 
Government, and was a prolific contributor to the scientific literature of the day. His 
*'Treatise on Ore Deposits," translated into English, 18()0-187l), by I'redcriek Prime. .Ir., 
an American Freiberg Mining Kngineer, was the authoritative basic work of the early 
period. Plis publications also included "Gcognostische Wanderungen," "(ieologle der 
Gegenwarl," "Der Altai," etc. After Werner, von Cotla was Freiberg's most widely 
known geologist and author. 



FREIBERG ROYAL MINING ACADEMY 

and Genesis of Ore Deposits), 1866-1870 and 1874-1896; 
G. G. Kreischer (Mining), 1871-1891; G. Zeuner 
(Mechanics, Machinery), 1872-1875; H. Gretschel 
(Mathematics), 1873-1892; CI. A. Winkler (Chemistry 
and Chemical Technology), 1875-1902; A. Schertel 
(Metallurgy), 1896-1902; and some of the faculty of 
1915: E. Treptow (Mining, Ore Dressing, Briquetting) ; 
E. Papperitz (Higher Mathematics, Descriptive Geom- 
etry, etc.); Leoben R. Beck (Geology, Ore Deposits, 
Paleontology); 0. Birkner (Political Economy, Finance, 
Insurance, Mining and Smelting Statistics) ; C. Schiffner 
(Metallurgy, Electro-Metallurgy, Assaying); P. Wilski 
(Mine Surveying and Geodesy); G. Brion (Electro- 
technic. Physics). 

The academic library has over fifty thousand volumes 
and brochures. The mineral collections, of which there 
are four, viz.: A. G. Werner's (12,000), Professors 
Breithaupt and Weisbach's (40,000), and two smaller 
ones, have in the aggregate about sixty thousand speci- 
mens. The geological collections cover five classes of 
specimens: 1st, General Geology and Petrography; 2d, 
Paleontology (animal); 3d, Paleontology (plants); 4th, 
Sections of Ore Deposits; 5th, for microscopic examina- 
tions of rocks, etc. There are also at hand collections 
of models in the departments of Mechanics, Mining, and 
Ore Dressing, Machinery, Metallurgy, Chemical Tech- 
nology, Iron Metallurgy, Mechanico-Metallurgical Tech- 
nology, etc. Also chemical, assaying, blow-pipe and 
metallurgical laboratories; collections of mining and 
land-surveying instruments, building materials, plans, 
etc. All of the surveying practice is carried on in the 
underground workings and around surface plants at 
the various mines and works. 

There were in my day (1875-1879), and still are, four 
principal courses, three to four years long, and for 
which final examinations were required for those ap- 
plying for diplomas and degrees — though this was 



A STUDENT REVERIE 



optional with the students — they could elect thus to 
specialize or take a mixed course, the latter plan being 
usually adopted by the Americans who came for special 
subjects and courses rather than for the regular cur- 
riculum planned for the German students. 

The four standard courses were for: Mining Engineer, 
Metallurgical Engineer, Mine Surveyor, Iron Mine En- 
gineer and Metallurgist. 

A still higher degree, namely, "Doktor-Ingenieur" (in 
the nature of an honorary title), may be obtained by a 
holder of any one of the above degrees, by his post- 
graduate submission of an acceptable dissertation, and 
otherwise conforming to certain "Promotion Rules" of 
the Dresden Technical High College in cooperation with 
the Freiberg Mining Academy governing this particular 
bestowal. 

We Americans usually combined the main subjects of 
Mining Engineering and Metallurgy, which, of course, 
embraced Mine Surveying, Assaying, etc. Those going 
in for the Mining Engineer degree would also attend 
many of the lectures for the Metallurgical course, and 
conversely those going in for the Metallurgical Engineer 
degree would also attend the Mining Engineering lec- 
tures, etc. A list of the subjects usually taken in my day 
by those aiming to combine the Mining and Metallurgi- 
cal courses, appears on the official academic papers as 
follows, thirty- two in number: Advanced Mathematics, 
Descriptive Geometry, Selected Chapters of Higher 
Mathematics, Higher Equations, Natural Philosophy, 
Mechanics, Machinery, Machinery Drawing (First and 
Second Parts), Inorganic Chemistry, Organic Chemistry, 
Qualitative Chemical Analj^ses, Quantitative Chemical 
Analyses, Mineralogy, Practical Determinations of Min- 
erals, Crystallographic Determinations, Geognosy, Sci- 
ence of Ore Deposits, Paleontology, Petrography De- 
terminations, Mining (First and Second Parts), General 



1:203 



FREIBERG ROYAL MINING ACADEMY 

Metallurgy, Assaying (Lectures and Practice), Blow- 
Pipe Analyses (Determination), Geodesy and Mine 
Surveying, Underground Surveys and Map Making, 
Geodetic Practice, Experimental Physics (Lectures), 
Experimental Physics (Laboratory Work), Building 
Construction, Mechanical Drawing and Planning of 
Mining and Metallurgical Plants, Mining Law, General 
Jurisprudence. 

But the foregoing list does not comprise all of the sub- 
jects lectured upon at Freiberg, with their correspond- 
ing practical courses. True to the traditions of German 
efficiency there were still more on tap! 

The Mining Engineer's examination and degree, how- 
ever, covered proven qualifications in fourteen subjects, 
besides a thesis on a given problem or project in prac- 
tical engineering, chosen by the faculty, and for the sub- 
mission of which five to six months were allowed. 

These fourteen subjects, taken from a diploma award- 
ing the degree of Mining Engineer ("Berg-Ingenieur"), 
dated December 1, 1879, are recorded as follows: Higher 
Mathematics, Descriptive Geometry, Mechanics, Ex- 
perimental Physics, Mineralogy, Geology, Paleontology, 
Mining Law, Jurisprudence, Mining, Concentration (Ore 
Dressing), Ore Deposits, Mine Surveying, Mining Ma- 
chinery. 

The very comprehensive curricula at Freiberg, even 
in my day, over forty years ago, also facilitated the pur- 
suit of specialties quite apart from the regular engi- 
neering courses. Thus, students and older graduates of 
other colleges desirous of specializing in geology and 
mineralogy, could follow a dozen different lectures and 
"praktikums" in constituent branches of this group. 
Similarly, in chemistry and chemical technology, many 
lectures covering this special field were available to fill 
out a two or three years' course, etc. Hence the Acad- 
emy's rank and standing of scholarship, in my day and 
since, has always been on a par with the highest institu- 

1:21: 



A STUDENT REVERIE 



tions of learning, such as the leading universities and 
polytechnics. 

In the American colleges and universities forty-five 
years ago there were, of course, able lectures being given 
on many mining subjects, and various more or less 
complete Mining and Metallurgical courses had been 
gotten well under way at established schools of mines; 
but they had not at that time become rounded out or 
risen to the high standard they subsequently attained. 
At this writing, however, and indeed for many years 
past, American schools of mines such as Columbia, 
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Yale, Harvard, 
the universities of California, Lehigh, Pittsburgh, and 
Golden (Colorado), etc., have also taken their places in 
the front rank of mining colleges, and are far better 
adapted for present-day American requirements and 
practice. But because of American institutions having 
caught up to, and in some respects surpassed, Europe in 
facilities and standards for our purposes, thus making it 
no longer necessary or even desirable to pursue one's 
entire course of mining engineering study abroad, this 
does not in the least detract from Freiberg's prominence 
and unequaled contribution, in early days, to mines and 
mining. 

Weighing fairly, therefore, the greatly perfected edu- 
cational advantages of our own technical institutions of 
learning during, say, the last thirty-five years, and their 
present high level of scholarship, Europe may nowa- 
days be regarded solely as inviting for finishing 
purposes and post-graduate specializations; while, of 
course, the acquirement of one or two foreign languages 
(preferably Spanish and French) is always a live asset 
for the wider practice of the expert mining engineer 
and manager. Generally speaking, it seems self-evident 
that the quality and quantity of a professional educa- 
tion, especially mining engineering, should bear close 

1:22: 



Plate XIV 





FRIEDKICII AUfiUST liRElTHAUPT 



I'RIEDRICH MOHS 





CARL FRIEDRICH NAUMANN 



Wll-HELM AUGUST r.AMl'AIJlUS 



Plate XV 




CARL FRIEUllICII l'LAir.M;i>, 



JULIUS WEISUACH 




li;ill)INANI) lUUCII 



MOIilTZ 1 I-lilllNANI) CATZSC.IIMANN 



FREIBERG ROYAL MINING ACADEMY 

relation to the necessities and "ways of doing things" 
of the country in which one expects to live and function 
— fitting in, as it were, with the home conditions and 
standards, industrially, economically, and even politi- 
cally. 

Among the other important European schools of 
mines of the years in question, the ficole des Mines of 
Paris, the London Royal School of Mines, and the Berg- 
akademie at Clausthal, situated among the mines in the 
Hartz Mountains (in cooperation with the Berlin-Berg- 
akademie), were the leaders; but the schools at Liege, 
St. fitienne, Przibram, Leoben (Austria), Fahlun (Swe- 
den), St. Petersburg, and Chemnitz were also favorably 
regarded. 

Looking backward, again, Freiberg had, besides the 
attraction of antiquity, certain natural advantages of 
location difficult to duplicate, as well as the wide fame 
of its savants and their literature, standard of that 
period, which lent a prestige to the Academy, historically 
and scientifically, beyond that of any other institution. 
Indeed, from this old citadel there emanated an amazing 
volume of epoch-making scientific and technical litera- 
ture on mining, metallurgy, the genesis of ore deposits, 
geological surveys, mechanical processes of ore treat- 
ment, and the related arts, much of which was trans- 
lated into other languages and issued as authoritative 
in its day to the remotest parts of the earth. 

At the risk of possible repetition, a list is here 
submitted of some of the more prominent German 
scientists who studied at Freiberg, a sample lot of the 
foundation men of olden days who were leaders in the 
life of the Academy — in the highest sense epoch-makers 
in their respective lines, whose labors and publications 
have placed the profession of mining, and indeed the 
scientific culture of the world, under lasting indebted- 
ness: 

n233 



A STUDENT REVERIE 



student's 
Name Year Academic No. 

Joh. Friedr. Wm. Charpentier 1766 4 
Abraham Gottlob Werner (the "father of 

geology") 1769 52 
Leopold von Buch (in 1853 "Kammerherr" in 

Berlin) 1790 345 

Frhr. von Humboldt (Alexander) 1791 357 

Carl Friedrich Mohs 1798 503 

Karl Theodor Korner (the famous poet) 1808 697 

Fr. Aug. Breithaupt 1811 747 

Carl Friedrich Naumann 1816 829 

Ferdinand Reich - 1816 832 

Carl Fr. Plattner 1817 835 

Karl Gustav Adalbert von Weissenbach 1819 904 

Mor. Ferd. Gatzschmann 1821 953 

Julius Ludw. Weisbach 1822 981 

Karl Moritz Kersten 1822 992 

Carl Bernard von Cotta 1827 1148 

Frhr. von Herder (Eugene Wolfgang) 1827 1149 

Carl Johann August Theodor Scheerer 1830 1243 

Carl Gottl. Gottschalk 1842 1524 

Hieronymus Theodor Richter 1843 1530 

Albin Jul. Weisbach 1850 1727 

Alfred Stelzner 1859 2115 

Paul von Groth (Munich's greatest mineralogist) 1862 2295 

These creative men of Freiberg, for the gift of their 
learning, will ever merit high place in the Science Hall 
of Fame. 

Numerically, Freiberg has never been a large affair — 
a qualitative rather than a quantitative institution. In 
fact, for a long time, it seemed as though there were 
nearly as many officials, "Ordentliche Professoren," 
"Ausserordentliche Professoren," "Dozenten," and "As- 
sistenten," as students. This feature, however, had its 
decided advantages in that it facilitated personal contact 
and close informal association with members of the 
faculty, contrasted with the more official aloofness and 
exclusiveness of the larger universities. Up to 1838 in- 
clusive, only 1416 men of all nationalities had matricu- 
lated, nineteen having entered in that year; and the 
records show that for one hundred and thirty-seven 
years (up to 1903), in all 4823 students had entered. 
Gradually, however, the number increased from about 



1:243 



Plate XVI 




THEODOK SCHEERER 



i;rSTAV ZEUXER 




FRIEDRICH AUGUST BREITHAUPT 
Enrolled at Freiberg ISll 



BERNARD von C.OTTA 
Freiberg, 1877 



Plate XVII 




TWELVE OF THE FREIBERG FACULTY 
1875-1880 



1 


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9 


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3 I'lKk-ulsch 


4 


Grc-lsclu'l 





RiihttT 


(i Winkler 


7 


Sll'lziUT 


s 


Wfisbacli 


<) Lcdibur 





Erlundl 


U 


C.otlsflKilk 


12 Leiithohl 



FREIBERG ROYAL MINING ACADEMY 

150 in my day to over 470 in 1902, of which one half 
were foreigners. The student body continued to grow, 
but later dropped off, until in the war year 1914-15, the 
number had declined to 247, one third being foreigners. 
The American attendance had already been falling off 
for many years, for the obvious reasons noted above. 

As early as 1838 an occasional American appeared on 
the academic register; but it was not until 1854 that our 
students began to come from the United States in in- 
creasing numbers. The Academy was always exceed- 
ingly liberal and accommodating in its policy of encour- 
agement toward the Americans, facilitating in every 
way their gaining admission to the lectures; and for that 
matter this was the official attitude toward all foreign- 
ers, because, like the Americans, the others, too, played 
an important role in the affairs of the Academy and in 
the entire community, socially and otherwise. Then, 
again, the limitations and difficulties under which 
foreigners labored from inadequate knowledge of Ger- 
man, made for leniency and helpful toleration on the 
part of the directorate. 

Our fellows were usually accepted by virtue of their 
degree-diplomas or other graduation credentials, certi- 
fying to the successful completion of undergraduate 
courses. Quite a number had already pursued mining 
or other engineering studies at home and visited Frei- 
berg more for finishing purposes and to "have a look 
around," while attending lectures on a few specialties. 
Indeed, in the full and oftentimes embarrassing realiza- 
tion that much would be expected "at home" of the re- 
turned Freiberger, it was quite a problem to know just 
what line of studies to follow to the best advantage. 
There were so many of the distinguished faculty to 
meet, with an even more bewildering menu of subjects 
and lectures to select from (handicapped frequently by 
limited knowledge of the language), that to make wise 
choice of a study-program for a given length of course 

1:253 



A STUDENT REVERIE 



was no easy task. The scheme was (or should have 
been) to maximize the cardinal, useful branches, and 
minimize the least necessary subjects, those unlikely to 
be called for in practical professional life, and to fit the 
selected curriculum into the allotted time, whether one, 
two, three, or four years, with or without final degree- 
examinations, as the case might be. 

For those advanced students not well up in German 
nor planning to take the regular long and somewhat 
tedious top-heavy course for the conferment of the de- 
gree, the opportunities were excellent for absorbing, 
with comparative ease, a rather wide and varied useful 
knowledge of mining subjects, because of the numer- 
ous "praktikums" that made up fully half of the course, 
in the laboratories and collections of the chemical, 
physical, machinery, blow-pipe, assaying, petrological, 
paleontological, microscopical, drawing and geodetic 
departments, not to mention the underground surveys 
and work in the mines, concentrators, and smelters, and 
trips of inspection during the vacation times. The con- 
versational character of these exercises afforded, of 
course, the best opportunities rapidly to improve one's 
speaking knowledge of German; but really to follow 
the lectures profitably, a fair familiarity with the lan- 
guage was quite indispensable. 

There were twelve principal professors in the faculty 
of 1875-80: Viertel (1), Kreischer (2), Undeutsch (3), 
Gretschel (4), Richter (5), Winkler (6), Stelzner (7), 
Weisbach (8), Ledebur (9), Erhardt (10), Gottschalk 
(11), Leuthold (12), who were among the eminent men 
of Germany in their respective branches. 

Their official duties .«:eemed to include an unwritten 
ethical obligation to cultivate and entertain the students 
socially, as well as elevate them academically, which in- 
timate relations would have been impossible to main- 
tain in a larger institution with scholars running into 
the thousands. Outside of the lecture room, at society 



t:263 



Plate XVIII 






JTUn/n^ ©■«-v^A-*"h- . 



CLEMENS WINKLER 




THEODOR RICHTER -"REKTOR" 



Plate XIX 




AI.rRED STELZNER 

Profcisoi- of Geology, l"icil>eig, 187 




.lAc.K HAMMOND AT inuciiucnCi 

l.S7ll-187'J 



IMIII.II' .1. OKTTINC.KH 
New V.ilU, 1!ia(l 
(I'iimIm-iK. 18I1."i1 



FREIBERG ROYAL MINING ACADEMY 

functions, concerts and the like, they would relax and 
fraternize with the students, on equal terms, recalling 
the careless happy hours of their own youthful univer- 
sity days. They opened their homes hospitably, espe- 
cially to the foreigners, giving series of dinners spread 
over the winter and summer semesters, to which the 
students were invited in groups of ten to fifteen at a 
time; and the expense of all this wining and dining 
made no small inroads upon their meager salaries. 

In similar relations of camaraderie, professors and 
students met at the concerts, balls, and beer gardens; 
and also on the geological and mining excursions, sur- 
veys and inspections, when a veritable picnic fraternity 
prevailed. In the dark hours of the morning, the 
students in mine clothes would start in parties for the 
mines for a day underground, while at other times we 
went down on the night shift. Arriving at the shaft just 
in time for the change of shifts and while the usual 
service of prayer by candle-light with organ and weird 
congregational singing was in progress, we were as- 
signed by the manager or superintendent to a foreman, 
who acted as guide for the surveying or other purposes 
of the trip. 

The miners of all ranks and stations were obliging, 
simple people, proud of the reputation of the Academy, 
and desirous of accommodating the foreign visitors and 
students. They were keenly interested in hearing tales 
about the mining districts in distant lands and the home 
cities of the foreigners, which filled them with much 
wonderment. These plain miners were essentially a re- 
ligious set. One of the more fervent men once remarked 
at the daily service that the contrast must appear strik- 
ing to the Americans, whose miners always "started be- 
low with a curse on their lips," as he had been informed. 
("Immer fahren sie ein mit einem Fluchl") 

Four of the faculty, Stelzner, Richter, Weisbach, and 
Winkler, were, perhaps, the most widely known, and at 

1:273 



A STUDENT REVERIE 



the same time enjoyed greatest popularity among the 
students. They spoke several languages, and Stelzner 
and Richter knew more English than many foreigners' 
knowledge of the German language. They were prac- 
tical, progressive men of vision, and, temperamentally, 
quite up-to-date in their clubby tastes and ideas. 

Alfred Stelzner (Freiberg, 1859) lectured on all of the 
geological subjects. He had been the favorite scholar of 
Bernard von Cotta years before, and was called to the 
Academy to succeed him. In the interim, Stelzner had 
been Professor of Geology and Mineralogy at the Uni- 
versity of Cordoba, and had conducted geological sur- 
veys in the service of the Argentine Government, his 
reports on the geology and paleontology of that republic 
being accepted as authoritative in geological literature. 
He was a highly accomplished and traveled scientist, 
speaking, besides German and English, French, Span- 
ish, and Portuguese. Having returned to Freiberg from 
roaming far afield in the outside world of expansion 
and movement, he infused into his lectures and delivery 
a certain snappy, enlightened style of presentation, de- 
rived from his contact with the new-world currents of 
progress, all of which lent to his instruction the charm 
of original appeal. 

The practice hours devoted to rock, fossil, and ore 
determinations under the magnetic, energetic Stelzner 
were regarded by the students as the most agreeable and 
profitable of the entire course. The inherent attraction 
of his branches and their practical utilitj'^ created a large 
following and regular attendance at his lectures. 

There was much about this brilliant and highly cul- 
tivated geologist, intellectually, temperamentally, and 
even in general physical appearance, that suggested his 
younger friend. Professor James Furman Kemp (now 
long identified with Columbia University, N. Y.), the 
widely known and gifted American geologist, a scientist 
of highest accomplishments, most genial character, and 

[:28: 



FREIBERG ROYAL MINING ACADEMY 

personal charm, all his own. Though not an enrolled 
student at Freiberg, Dr. Kemp has visited in this field 
and participated in some of the geological excursions 
with members of the faculty. In fact, to this day, he is 
one of the best authorities on all matters personal and 
educational pertaining to the old historic district and 
the Royal Academy. As one of America's most pop- 
ular and sympathetic authors and teachers, Kemp has 
passed on to his many classes of eager students the lore 
of ore deposits, which is so largely derived from the old 
masters of the Freiberg institution. 

Of all scientific subjects and scientists, geology and 
geologists are probably the least narrow and prosily 
materialistic. In the pursuit of geological studies, par 
excellence, there comes into play a mysterious inspira- 
tional power derived from closest association with Na- 
ture's huge creations and forces. Set with sublimest 
scenery, in a supernatural atmosphere of beauty and 
with the marvelous unfolding of Nature's ways, the 
awakening consciousness of the eternal powers, the 
majesty of conception, the everlastingness of time, 
material, force, and movement, and of resulting life it- 
self, create an intimate approach along the paths of 
science, to the very gateway of the unfathomable secrets 
and mysteries of life. These awe-inspiring, magnetic 
influences and the dawning comprehension of universal 
greatness, transmitted through these poetic and scien- 
tifically romantic contacts, cultivate the reverential up- 
lift and expanding vision. They strike through and 
through with spirituality and bring to the surface in 
fullest refinement the finer traits and aspirations of 
character. These are the transcendent situations and 
flights, which mellow and broaden the faculties, making 
for man at his best, and creating the fiber of the very 
soul of life. 

Dr. Theodor Richter (Freiberg, 1843) was the "Rek- 
tor" of the Royal Academy, and signed the official 

1:293 



A STUDENT REVERIE 



papers, certificates of attendance at lectures, diplomas, 
degrees, etc. He was widely known in Europe for his 
lectures on metallurgj^ assaying and blow-pipe analy- 
sis, and as the discoverer of indium. In appearance he 
was of the spectacled German type, though more trim 
and better-looking than the average. The many "prak- 
tikums" connected with his branches afforded ample 
opportunity to get well acquainted with the Rektor, who 
cooperated with his assistants in this analytical work. 
He was a democratic man in a quiet way and of a serious 
turn of mind not so readily relaxable. Among his dis- 
tinguished private students was Thomas Egleston of 
New York, later a founder of the Columbia School of 
Mines. Egleston, however, studied chiefly in Paris and 
did not enter regularly at Freiberg. 

Albin Weisbach (Freiberg, 1850), scholar of Breit- 
haupt (Freiberg, 1811), enjoyed as mineralogist and 
crystallographer much prestige as the successor of 
Breithaupt, and especially as the son of the original and 
famous Julius Weisbach (Freiberg, 1822), who wrote 
the great work on Mechanics and Machinery, among 
others, translated into English by our distinguished 
American Mining Engineer Eckley B. Cox (Freiberg, 
1862). 

In Weisbach's lectures on mineralogy and the diffi- 
cult, dry, and unpopular crystallography, he had a pecu- 
liar unmagnetic delivery. As a corps student he had 
received a severe long saber-gash across his broad fore- 
head which was thought to have influenced his sight 
and facial expression, suggesting, at times, even mental 
eccentricity. There was a great deal of dry formulae 
connected with his courses; and as the very nature of 
these subjects precluded the wide inspirational sweep 
and scientific uplift inherent in the geological group, 
the popularity of his teaching was not on a par with 
Stelzner's. 

Clemens Winkler had made a great name for himself 



cao] 




JAMES FURMAN KEMP, A. B., E. M., D. SC, LL. D. 
(ANOTHER AUTHORITY ON FREIBERG AND FREIBERGERS) 

ADELPHI ACADEMY. BROOKLYN, 1865-1877; AMHERST 1877-1881; COLUMBIA 
SCHOOL OF MINES 1881-1884. ASSISTANT TO DR. NEWBERRY THERE: LEIPZIG AND 
MUNICH UNIVERSITIES LATER; PROFESSOR OF GEOLOGY AND PUBLICIST OF 
DISTINCTION AT THE SCHOOL OF MINES. COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY, NEW YORK: 
AUTHOR OF "ORE DEPOSITS OF THE UNITED STATES AND CANADA" 1893— "HAND 
BOOK OF ROCKS" 1895. 



INVALUABLE FRIEND AND COUNSELOR OF THE RISING ENGINEER- 



PLATE XX 



FREIBERG ROYAL MINING ACADEMY 

in all branches of chemistry, and his lectures on chem- 
ical technology were especially fine and instructive. 
His courses were sought by students specializing in these 
branches, quite apart from the pursuit of mining or 
metallurgical engineering. Winkler was a brilliant 
man of much originality and also possessed the happy 
faculty of coming down to earth among the boys, and 
through personal magnetism and good will winning 
their confidence and ambitious endeavor. 

A bureau for the sale of specimens, appropriately 
mounted and carefully labeled, conducted under Herr 
Wappler, was an active department of the Academy, 
which encouraged the students making mineral collec- 
tions, and incidentally served as an informal meeting- 
place for social exchanges. Selected type-specimens of 
ores and the associated minerals, in crystal forms as 
well, characteristic of the various vein formations, were 
to be had as low as a few cents apiece — special prices 
made to students only. For the small sum of twenty- 
five dollars a useful collection could be put together 
representing the metallic and non-metallic minerals 
most commonly met with in practical mining, and to 
serve also as the foundation for a larger collection to be 
gradually accumulated through later years. 

If called upon to criticize the old Freiberg educational 
system — no agreeable or easy task in view of its prom- 
inence and acknowledged excellence — the following 
general comment may be permitted: It seemed to us 
Americans, inexperienced as we were in those far-back 
times, that in some of the lectures on mining methods, 
machinery, and processes of treatment, much valuable 
time and energy were needlessly wasted in wearisome 
historical recitals, in greatest detail, of the formative 
and development stages of these arts, past and forever 
gone and of no present practical moment. 

It lies in the German character to doctrinize and aca- 
demicize (words created for Teuton glory I) their sub- 



A STUDENT REVERIE 



jects and teaching, from the most rudimentary founda- 
tions upward, at the expense of the larger vital things — 
so by the time the really useful realities and worth-while 
essentials are reached, a brain-fag may have set in, 
crippling the mind for further receptive effort. The 
national book-making, encyclopedic habit of mind with 
love for minute classification, and the mental reflex of 
the involved language, all blended, peradventure, wdth 
soporific surcharges of excellent beer, may partially ac- 
count for a certain ponderosity of viewpoint and the 
theoretic bent of the Germanic race! 

The book-worm feature of the instruction at the 
Academy was, however, in great measure, offset by the 
ample opportunities referred to for practical observa- 
tion and work in the mines, ore-dressing and smelting 
works, without which Freiberg's advantages and effi- 
ciencies would have been very much reduced. 

For some years, beginning about 1850, it became a 
sort of fashionable educational fad to go to Freiberg for 
a mining career, whether there was to be any studying 
done after arrival there or not. And while the bare fact 
of having entered as a student or even visited the place 
did frequently lend a certain glamour to Freibergers, this 
accorded hall-mark of efficiency, of course, did not in any 
sense furnish a magic guarantee of real mining capacity, 
training, and judgment. But the sojourn at Freiberg, 
in any event, did stand for a man having had a chance, 
of the best and wisest choosing at the time, to acquire 
useful first-hand knowledge to put him well along on 
the road to a successful career, provided he in turn 
could supplement the situation by furnishing some 
natural capacity and personal character to do his in- 
dividual part. Of course, the powers of the Academy to 
perform outright miracles without the student's serious 
application, were no nearer millennial perfection than 
those of any other college. Indeed, after all is said and 
done, it seems evident that the best of educations may 

11323 



FREIBERG ROYAL MINING ACADEMY 

have its tragic limitations and grave disappointments in 
practical application to the demands of life's problems, 
oftentimes bitter, harsh, and heartless. So, in the last 
analysis, to forestall regrets, it is perhaps just as well to 
inventory the choice preliminary intellectual capital of 
professions as the mere ABC that contribute to spell a 
possible eventual success, and which alone can be crys- 
tallized into triumph by talent, intuition, keenness, and 
initiative. These elemental qualities, perhaps the com- 
ponent potentialities of the much accentuated "common 
sense," go far in the race for successful endeavor. They 
can ill afford to be spared, while their fortunate posses- 
sion may fully compensate for poor college achieve- 
ments, if not, indeed, the entire sacrifice of a college 
course, if need be. Hence our college and university 
training, be it what it may, needs at all times the cultiva- 
tion of these natural faculties and the ripening, balanc- 
ing observation and absorbing experience of life and 
the world in action. 

But on the whole, and quite impartially, be it said, 
Americans have acquitted themselves with credit and 
have also contributed in very large measure to Frei- 
berg's fame, as did their eminent teachers before them. 
This is fully evidenced when, in reviewing the history 
of the sweeping technical and industrial advances in 
scientific mining which characterized the years succeed- 
ing the period in point, the American Freibergers are 
found to have migrated to the remotest mineral sections 
— the mining missionaries, as it were, on the world's 
frontiers of advancing industry — and there left in home 
and foreign fields their marks of achievement in the 
upbuilding of these foremost of basic industries rang- 
ing from iron to gold, and from coal to diamonds. 

Just how much of their success is accreditable to Frei- 
berg training, how much to their previous education, 
and the share properly assignable to their practical ex- 
perience in post-graduate years, we may not know until 

C33: 



A STUDENT REVERIE 



clairvoyance becomes a perfected art. It is confidently 
believed, however, that the old Academy left its imprint 
and invaluable contributions to every one of them. 

Among many successful Americans of this type (ex- 
clusive of the far greater number of other nationals) 
who became widely recognized in their respective call- 
ings, and who studied at the Academy from ten to 
twenty-five years before my time, the following inter- 
esting list is here presented. As early men of note, some 
of whom were of remarkable brilliance and the highest 
order of talent and capacity, they reflected much credit 
on the once magic and always the highly revered name 
of Freiberg . 







student's 


Name 


Year 


Academic No 


George J. Brush 


1854 


1849 


James D. Hague 


1856 


1942 


Raphael Pumpelly 


1856 


1958 


Louis Janin 


1857 


1998 


Henry Janin 


1857 


1999 


Rud. Edw. Werthemann 


1857 


2029 


Rossiter W. Raymond 


1860 


2210 


Winfield Scott Keyes 


1861 


2263 


Eugen Nicolas Riotte 


1861 


2276 


Eckley Brinton Cox 


1862 


2307 


Augustus J. Bowie 


1864 


2391 


Samuel Franklin Emmons 


1864 


2396 


John H. Caswell 


1865 


2427 


Thomas M. Drown 


1865 


2431 


Arnold Hague 


1865 


2435 


A. D. Hodges 


1865 


2437 


Alexis Janin 


1865 


2440 


Philip J. Oettinger 


1865 


2450 


Edward D. Peters 


1865 


2452 


Frederick Prime 


1865 


2455 


Gardner F. Williams 


1865 


2465 


Professor H. B. Cornwall, of Princeton 


1866 





The only survivors of this set of "originals," as far as 
ascertainable, are: Raphael Pumpelly, a widely traveled 
geologist and author of renown, residing in Newport, 
Rhode Island; Gardner F. Williams, of South African 
diamond fame, now a resident of Washington, D. C, 

i:34] 



FREIBERG ROYAL MINING ACADEMY 

and Philip J. Oettinger, E;M., Ph.D., of New York, also 
a widely traveled engineer, for ten years in Mexico with 
the Kansas City Smelting & Refining Co., and before that 
with the Argo Smelting Co., the pioneer works of Col- 
orado. 

Some of the later-day men along about my own 
period, whose active careers are deserving of notice, 
were John Hays Hammond of California (Freiberg, 
1876-79), now a world citizen of renown; Governor 
James B. Grant of Colorado; Franklin Guiterman, late 
Executive Director of the American Smelting & Refin- 
ing Company; Edward G. Stoiber of New York and 
Colorado; Wm. Francis Hillebrand, Ph.D., U. S. Bureau 
of Standards, Washington, D.C.; Baron Alfred de Ropp; 
Harry H. Webb, 1883-84; J. McNulty; H. Schlapp; 
Maurice Clark; C. R. Corning; A. J. Seligman of New 
York; Edgar P. Rathbone of London; H. J. Hardess 
of Idaho; Prof. Waldemar Lindgren of the Massachu- 
setts Institute of Technology, Geologist U. S. Survey, 
etc. (Freiberg, 1878-83) ; Leroy Wiley McCay, D.Sc, Pro- 
fessor of Chemistry at Princeton (Freiberg, 1878); 0. 
G. Schultz, N. J.; W. L. Austin, M.E., Ph.D., of Califor- 
nia; G. Jackson; Cesar Vicuiia, E.M., of Chile; Wm. Hey- 
wood Myers, 1871-75; Edwin H. Garthwaite, 1878-82; 
Frederick Hellman, 1884-85. Five of the older set not 
above recorded were: Ernst Le Neve Foster of London, 
1868-69; Stewart M. Buck, 1868; Edmund B. Preston 
(Leoben, Austria), 1859-1862; John A. Porter, 1869-72; 
John Bigelow of New York, 1871-73. 



n353 



Plate XXI 





RAPHAEL PUMPELLY AT FREIBERG, 
185(). Nineteen yeai's oT age 



GARDNER F. WILLIAMS AT 
FREIBERG, 1805 




PHILIP J. OETTIN'GER AT FREIBERG, 
18U5 



Plate XXII 




THE WERNER MONUMENT 
FREIBERG, SAXONY 




SCHWEDEN DENKMAL 



FREIBERG LIFE 

CONTRASTS IN OUTLOOK, THEN AND NOW— THE CARELESS 

SIMPLICITIES OF YOUTH VS. THE BURDENSOME 

COMPLEXITIES OF MATURITY 




UT Freiberg was not all mines and min- 
ers in a setting of history and science, 
an environment rich with the lore of 
antiquity; for, even in the cold bleak 
winters, banked with snow and ice, the 
old moldy burg created through its 
student life a unique social atmosphere all its own — 
of tone and color quite distinctive in rugged charms, 
while to the scholastic life there was much of good-fel- 
lowship, culture, and romance. Strange and curious 
intricacies of structure were here compounded, sug- 
gestive of the varied phenomena of the ore and geo- 
logical formations themselves, if a prosaic simile be 
permitted. 

Here were gathered together, from all parts of the 
globe, men of all ages, hues, customs, and civilizations, 
presenting an international ensemble of striking, en- 
gaging contrasts — for the greater part young men of 
importance and accomplishments. Many languages, 
suggesting the biblical Babel, were heard on the streets, 
in the cafes, and in the corridors of the Academy; and 
although students from France were rare, the French 
language, next to German and English, was most com- 
monly heard, spoken by the Russians, Poles, Italians, 



A STUDENT REVERIE 



Spaniards, and South Americans who found common 
social and linguistic ground along French lines of boule- 
vard causerie. So, after all, in popular parlance, there 
was "some class" to little Freiberg, quaint and overrun 
with its picturesquely garbed miners and students. 

True to the university town customs of the empire, 
the Germans had their regular corps duel performances 
and meeting-places, and exchanged with the brother 
organizations of Dresden, Leipzig, and other student cit- 
ies. Some few Americans joined these "Verbindungen," 
and frequently excelled in the "Schlager" contests, es- 
tablishing championship records and names of terror 
for themselves in the German student world. In con- 
trast with these there were several social quasi-scientific 
societies, notably "Vorwarts" and "Gliick-Auf," made 
up of Germans not usually joining the corps. At their 
periodic gatherings, for "Bier Abend Gemiithlichkeit," 
the reading of mind-improving papers and other mild 
forms of entertainment filled up the evenings with quiet 
conservative respectability. These people were regarded 
as "solide junge Leute"; but the real swagger set of 
dandy imitation knights gravitated toward the corps life 
of beer, buttons, ribbons, and other trappings of youth- 
ful, bumptious German heroics — shall we say the mini- 
ature swash-bucklers and forerunners of the tainted 
types that were eventually to initiate Germany's fall 
from grace! 

The average American boy seems not to measure up 
to the German student in his beer-drinking inclination 
or capacity. There is lacking in him the "Altdeutscher" 
internal beer-brewery drainage and stomachic tank 
capacity nonchalantly to imbibe swinish quantities of 
the national beverage. Nevertheless, in competitive en- 
deavor to be accommodating, our boys on occasions 
managed to hold their own, measured by the "Bier 
Gesetze" (the students' beer code of reciprocal drink- 
ing). 





RAPHAEL PUMPELLY 
(83 YEARS OLD) 
STUDIED AT FREIBERG 1856-1859 
EMINENT GEOLOGIST-AUTHOR-SCIENTIST AND MINING ENGINEER. FORMERLY 
PROFESSOR OF ECONOMIC GEOLOGY AT HARVARD. EARLY TRAVELED IN CORSICA. 
CONDUCTED EXCAVATIONS OF EARLIEST PREHISTORIC CIVILIZATIONS OF CENTRAL 
ASIA. UNDER GRANTS FROM CARNEGIE INSTITUTION. IMPORTANT PROFESSIONAL 
AND GOVERNMENTAL ENGAGEMENTS IN ARIZONA. CALIFORNIA, NORTHERN 
MICHIGAN. WISCONSIN. JAPAN, CHINA, ETC. ETC. 

—OUR AMERICAN VON HUMBOLDT — 

PLATE XXMl 



FREIBERG LIFE— CONTRASTS— THEN AND NOW 

But in a city of Freiberg's size and resources, there 
had to be, of course, some "real society"; and indeed, the 
inherited rural provincialism of the place had in more 
modern days taken on quite a palatable flavor of cos- 
mopolitan trend in things social. So it was that "ganz 
raffinirte Gesellschaft" had come into its own full blos- 
som, composed of the families of professors, mining 
and state officials, military officers and other high-ups, 
if any, who, with the students, were the bright particular 
sustaining lights. There were two of these exclusive sets, 
or "Tanz Vereine," with no little club particularity to 
gain admission, and they encircled Freiberg's elite and 
set the standards of "der gute Ton." The Americans, as 
always, privileged beings, were very welcome members, 
and it was some social splurge to belong to both sets of 
these inner circles at one time. 

The Americans, even those on moderate allowances, 
when their dollars were once exchanged into four times as 
many marks, were considered in affluent circumstances 
and of certain worth-while consequence and merit, in- 
cluding, of course, potential marriage possibilities, 
which latter, however, rarely were realized. "Verliebt" 
and "Verlobt" in upper circles were terms of grave im- 
port in susceptible Germany of old. No repudiation 
liberties of the "scrap of paper" variety about these 
treaties of the heart were tolerated in polite society. So 
declaratory trifling along these delicate lines was best 
avoided unless prepared to go through with the pro- 
gram. 

But our boys were entitled to credit for more than 
mere material social assets, for it was evident that their 
well-bred, free and easy, at-home air and carriage met 
with the indulgent favor of the women folks, whatever 
the men may have thought of some of our original social 
innovations of natural spontaneity and aggressiveness 
in running a party. A certain self-confident, matter-of- 
course bearing and composed tone, and a naive bubbling 

1:393 



A STUDENT REVERIE 



frankness and politeness of the heart, rather than the 
mere mechanical and formal drawing-room conven- 
tionalities, carried our boys into marked favor. And 
though they may have caused a ripple of doubtful sur- 
prise at times, on the whole we won out in our liberaliz- 
ing effect on the natives. Moreover, those were the good 
old days when, if necessary, men were given the benefit 
of the doubt, for the male portion of creation was then, 
consequentially, an admitted nine tenths of the entire 
organic world. 

The wholesome daughters of the quality people, some 
few of the ennobled families, were all there in their 
festive flounces and garlands. Many were comfortably 
nice-looking and most appreciative of manner. The 
era of the beauty-parlor habit, now dominating all 
classes, had not then dawned; the practice of first aid 
to beauty with ever-present lip sticks, rouge pots, pow- 
der puffs, chamois, and pocket mirrors, in the presence 
of a waiting, expectant world, being still a dormant art 
thereabouts. So there was no mask of tints and make- 
ups to keep a candidate for favors guessing; and lips, 
if accessible at all, could be reached without mining 
through superficial strata of chemical radiance. Pro- 
vincial simplicity reigned supreme; and if color were in 
evidence, it was pretty sure not to come off, to mutual 
consternation. Better still, it might even increase 
through blushes of modesty and unsophisticatedness — 
a natural maidenly accomplishment of the good old 
ancestral school now well on the wane, but then flour- 
ishing at its height. Accordingly, things as seen more 
nearly approached realities, rendering expert knowl- 
edge of boudoir mysteries unnecessary; for even an 
amateur could, on sight, gauge the worst or the best in 
facial fitness, without fear of error or eventual dis- 
illusionment. But in other respects, the physical ex- 
positional opportunities for sound judgment were not 
so good in these olden days of propriety and charm-con- 



[-tO] 




GARDNER F. WILLIAMS, M. A.. E. M. LL. D. (1910) 

DOCTOR OF ENGINEERING (1917) 
(NOW OF SAN FRANCISCO. CAL. AND WASHINGTON. D. C.) 

STUDIED AT FREIBERG 1865-1868. WAS THERE ACCORDED THE HIGH HONOR 
OF BEING STANDARD BEARER OF THE ROYAL MINING ACADEMY AT ITS ONE HUN- 
DREDTH ANNIVERSARY — AN OCCASION CELEBRATED AND ATTENDED BY MANY OF 
THE LEARNED MEN OF EUROPE. 

AUTHOR AND MINING EXPERT OF WORLD-WIDE DISTINCTION. OLDEST LIVING 
ALUMNUS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, MANAGER DeBEERS DIAMOND 
MINES, SOUTH AFRICA, MAY, 1887. TO DECEMBER 31. 1905. ETC.. ETC. A WORLD 
AUTHORITY ON DIAMOND MINING. AUTHOR OF "DIAMOND MINES OF SOUTH AFRICA, • 
1905 AN EPOCH WORK IN TWO VOLUMES, PROFUSELY ILLUSTRATED. 



FREIBERG LIFE— CONTRASTS— THEN AND NOW 

cealments; for the then fashion standards were demure 
and of the long-dress type, the daylight exploitation of 
form, feet, ankles, and all the rest of feminine blessed- 
ness not having been properly sanctioned or in a broad 
sense artistically and alluringly presented. 

In other words, modern-day styles and the yachty 
carriage were not in evidence here, nor, indeed, was 
any other particular style well carried out, for that mat- 
ter. These simple, real folk cared for none of these 
things. And what of it, after all, since the homely, 
homey standards prevailed so generally? With a little 
imagination, at our ages, it was, in these somewhat 
primitive circumstances, no strain of faith to bear wit- 
ness to the warrant for the old Saxon rhyme : 

"In Sachsen wo die schonen Madchen wachsen." 

Comparatively speaking, the ancient and honorable 
order of falling in love with faces first, is fast becoming 
to be "feet first," as proclaimed by feminine edict in the 
alluring abbreviated modes of to-day — their capricious 
object being, perhaps, to change the luck and accelerate 
the social, bohemian activities of the race I 

Indeed, there may be profound revolutions under- 
lying these seemingly trifling, girlish foibles, little 
dreamed of by the fair molders and trustees of our pro- 
priety standards and habits, which would prove start- 
ling awakeners to them did not the beneficent provi- 
sions of Nature eliminate the jar and friction of her 
fundamental changes by a slowness of movement that 
renders their advent and progress almost imperceptible, 
if not even agreeably tolerable. 

Engulfed in the inexorable, merciless cycles of evo- 
lution with their threatening tragic, organic reversions, 
it would appear that man, lured by the modern femi- 
nine pace, may already have passed "over the top" in 
his attainment to the full dignity of the erect posture; 
and that he is now once more dropping back, slowly 

1:413 



A STUDENT REVERIE 



but surely, toward the "all-fours" locomotion! For, 
compelled in part by woman's fascinating, beckoning 
decree of abbreviated apparel — say in the current of 
the Sunday processionals along the modern Avenue — 
and partly by male gallantry, perpetually to adopt the 
downward, sheepish gaze in scanning the ground to 
which has now been transferred the inspirational, celes- 
tial zone of enchantment, there is quite naturally de- 
veloped among the pious, admiring male following, the 
chronic, slouchy gait and earthward, reverential droop 
of figure and faculties. Never before, in truth, has the 
plain surface of Mother Earth become so favored and 
hallowed by the travel of her daughters in such be- 
wildering physiological varieties and fantastic displays 
of the new thrilling and shapely criterions of ladylike 
electrics in modish yet limited draping and trans- 
parencies. 

Amid this intricate profusion of ambitious limbs, 
each pair seemingly endowed with its own particular 
mission and aspiration, surely the very worms of the 
earth must be willing martyrs to their gentle tread, or 
yearn for the human uplift of faculties that shall enable 
them also to take notice of the passing fray. 

The struggle of the classes, however, to keep in 
fashion with the present types of our high civilization, 
and go the limit, if not one better, is often pathetic, 
especially for those who are driven to the poorest imi- 
tations of tawdry quality and design, and who, through 
inadequate nourishment and income, can adequately 
fill neither the stockings nor the bill. 

To mining scientists of deep penetration, and specu- 
latively inclined racial students, this dominating socio- 
logical and physical trend of the times, foretelling 
return to the types of bygone ages, is a biological dis- 
closure of extremest interest. In the dim, remote 
future of geological time, straining the mind to com- 
prehend, the strange learned creatures corresponding 

1:423 



FREIBERG LIFE— CONTRASTS— THEN AND NOW 

to the present leaders of scientific thought and investi- 
gation, in roaming over the rearranged surface forma- 
tions in eager quest of fossil remains of our period, will 
highly prize the graceful genus "limbus americana" 
("limbus" meaning the fringe of hell!). And the new 
inhabitants will marvel at these piquant remains of a 
vanished race of presumably greatest talent, beauty, 
and highest order of achievement. Not unlikely even 
some of the rarer specimens of lesser symmetry will 
also find place in their paleontological collections, and 
be classified as belonging to the extremely valuable 
missing-link group of the Age of the American Limb. 

Nevertheless, in justice to the profession of profes- 
sions, let no passing frivolous comments lead to the 
supposition that our scientists are so unemotional and 
lacking in temperament as to fail in appreciation and 
pride for our American beauty and chic, however eccen- 
tric at times, and for the wide democratic distribution 
of these captivating national assets throughout the 
length and breadth of the land. On the contrary, 
science regards these well-turned picturesque human 
movies as incentives to increased pulsation, — indeed, the 
very mainsprings and vitalizers of life itself, that enter- 
tain, dazzle, and awaken the male portion of the com- 
munity to new movement and greater endeavor. Hav- 
ing, therefore, registered their "say so," true to the 
didactic habit of mind, and thus modestly "draped with 
science" the terminal exhibits of tender humanity, 
against inclement weather and the vulgar gaze, the well- 
balanced savants and even the older ones bent on the 
solution of perpetual motion, yield to the pleasing and 
appetizing depravities of the simple life. Optimistically 
they take their places in the up-to-date procession, with 
all its strains and risks, there lingering in hopeful 
expectancy that the powers may graciously allot them, 
too, their shares in the distribution of favors. 

Of one thing in the old days we may be sure: any 

n433 



A STUDENT REVERIE 



angular or overfed, clumsy defects in lines, form, or 
movement, discernible to the eye of the cruel critic, in 
the docile Saxon Gretchens of confiding sweet simplicity, 
softened and vanished in the kindly dissolving moon- 
light of a Freiberg evening, when, blending with the 
shadowy landscape in perfect harmony of setting with 
the time, place, and occasion, the inquiring mind of 
"Herr Amerikaner" was at last in unruffled peace. But 
be it also remembered here and now that "der Herr 
Student" was of such high and mighty importance and 
privilege in this community of inherited uplift and 
learning, that he ran a close second to the princely elec- 
tors of old, in that, like the king himself, the student, 
too, could "do no wrong," in the exaggerated estimation 
of his adorable and adoring companion. 

Be this as it may, the Freiberg girls in general were 
nice understudies for the time being, and commendably 
wide awake to the chances for gaining glimpses of the 
outside world through cultivating the often traveled 
and highly accomplished students. Many had picked 
up an excellent parlor fluency in English and French, 
and also showed awakening tendencies to welcome the 
dawn of the liberal, progressive age that was destined 
to gain the emancipation of femininity and estab- 
lish once and for all their leadership and superiority. 
Doubtless the grandchildren of these sensible, solid, 
affable young ladies have, at this writing, evoluted on 
and upward to full qualification for the most drastic 
reforms and nursery-diverting responsibilities of this 
modern cult. 

There was much correct, old-fashioned form and 
stiffness about the society gatherings, which culminated 
in the usual feasting and wine drinking, the latter re- 
garded as more "elegant" than beer on extra-social 
occasions of this sort. And while it cannot be denied 
that a tone of good-will and sincere jovial affability per- 
vaded these periodic parties, it must be admitted that 



Plate XXV 




JAMES DUNCAN HAGUE 

Freiberg, 1856-1858 

Born at Boston, February 24, 1836; died at Slockbridge, Mass., August 3, lOnS. 

A Mining Engineer, highly esteemed in United States and European circles; of winning 
yet dignified and forceful personality. 

His early studies were at the Lawrence Scientific School of Harvard University, 1854; 
in 1855 and 1856 at the University of Gottingeu, Hanover, where among his fellow- 
students were the late J. Pierpont Morgan, the New York banker, and Professor Charles 
F. Chandler of Columbia University. Hague was early identified with copper operations 
in the Lake Superior region. In 1807 he became engaged in government geological and 
mining work with Clarence King in the famous exploration of the Fortieth Parallel. In 
1878 a U. S. Commissioner at the Paris International Exposition. In 1904 edited the 
memorial of Clarence King. For many years, until his death, he was President of the 
North Star Mines Co., a New York enterprise owning the famous North Star mine of Grass 
Valley, California, one of the pronounced gold-mine successes of America. This property 
had been earlier resuscitated and developed into an important producer by John Hays 
Hammond. Hague made valuable professional contributions to mining literature and 
belonged to many scientific societies and social clubs. He was a man of quality and 
distinction. 



Platk XXVI 




LOUIS JANIN 
Freiberg, 1857-18G0 

Born :it New Orleniis, L:i., lN:i(i; died at Santa Uarbara. Cal., >!:iiili (\, liU 1. 

A leader in mining engineering and metallurgy on the Pacific slope. One of three 
brolhers (Louis, Henry, and Alexis, all Freibergers) who became well-known engineers. 
Louis Janin studied at Vale in ISfUi, and after three years at I'reiberg attended, in ISOl, 
(he Paris Ecole des Mines. He made important contiibulions to the nietallurg>' of the 
Conistotk and other Pacific districts, and made extended tours in Mexico and Japan. 
He was an attr-actlve. l)rilliant man of much social charm. 



FREIBERG LIFE— CONTRASTS— THEN AND NOW 

an undertone of pathetic dead earnestness possessed 
the atmosphere and people — while the scene was not 
improved by the home-made frocks and bad-fitting 
clothes. The rapid hopping dances with one-way piv- 
otal wind-ups, making for eventual vertigo, were the 
correct thing, and to witness an American try on some 
reverse steps was regarded with admiring awe as a 
"Kunststiick" of the highest order. Had some of the 
latter-day gliding, dipping, and shimmy steps been 
sprung then and there on this rural, unsuspecting com- 
munity, the revolution in Germany would surely have 
passed into history in the long ago. 

Within Freiberg's approved social circle there were 
many differentiations of rank and standing, designated 
by a bewildering assortment of mining, industrial, aca- 
demic, government-official and court titles, ranging in 
relative importance up and down like a chromatic scale 
in music. Some of these marvelous compounds, un- 
pronounceable for the new-comer, are here written 
down in all respect and appreciation, for they usually 
stood for hard brain labor, merit, fidelity, and long 
service to state and calling. Add, if you please, "Herr" 
before each, and then strain your German to the ut- 
most, when you, too, may become awe-stricken with 
their complex, almost autobiographic meaning: Herr 
Berg-Ingenieur, Ehren - Doctor - Ingenieur, Bergrath, 
Oberbergrath, Geheimer Bergrath, Geheimer Rath," 
Geheimer Regierungsrath, Ministerialrath, Finanzrath, 
Kammerrath, Geheimer Fizanzrath, Berggeschworner, 
Polizeirath, Bergamtsassessor, Gerichtsamtsassessor, 
Hiittenmeister, Oberhiittenmeister, Bergbaudirector, 
Bergfactor, Markscheider, Stadtkrankenhausarzt, Real- 
gymnasialoberlehrer, Oberberghauptmann, etc., etc., ad 
infinitum! In this maze of grandiose titular honor 
lalaels, a language-wrestler, embarrassed as to choice of 
address, could take a chance shot if he could only think 
to end his selection with "Rath," when his social navi- 

1:453 



A STUDENT REVERIE 



gation would be pretty sure to proceed unblemished 
and with comparative safety. 

It is manifestly evident that this network of fine dis- 
tinctions, besides adding to the difficulties and labor of 
social pleasures, made for exaggerated politeness and a 
certain worshipful deference. Rut on the other hand, 
there was much frank, hearty hospitality and many 
courtesies of the old school about these meritorious 
folk; and they were deserving, to say the least, of all 
the flattering comfort extractable from these long pre- 
fixtures. It must be kept in mind, too, that as a regula- 
tive force, the high-sounding pompous words per- 
formed their practical mission of magic, overawing ef- 
fect and potential managerial powers over the common 
people. With learning so cheap and salaries so small, 
and honors great and plenty, what was more natural 
than to pay up differences by bestowal of titles in lieu 
of advancing salaries, since these simple men of high 
ideals and purpose, easily imposed upon as true modesl 
merit is wont to be, were more than satisfied with 
emoluments of office chiefly payable in honorable rec- 
ognitions and promotions? Among the people at large, 
their life standards were something after this order: 
beer and music came first; then honors and hero-wor- 
ship; last of all, salary. Well may we of this rapid age 
of rampant, wealth-getting materialism look up to this 
simple, genuine community of academic idealists, of 
earnest standards and untarnished aspirations. The 
German citizen of those days, when Germany was at 
her best, was relatively unspoiled, simple-minded, well- 
intentioned, and of good heart; but for his contented 
social equilibrium, no matter what his rank, he must be 
able to boss and be the envy of some one lower down, 
for which in turn he was quite willing to do his servile, 
toady part of scraping and cringing to, and taking 
orders from, the fellow higher up. Great veneration 



n46: 



Plate XXVII 




ROSSITER WORTHINGTON RAYMOND 

Entered at Freiberg, 1860, following a year at Heidelberg and a year at Munich. Ph.D. 
(Lafayette College, 1869); LL.D. (Lehigh University, 1906). 

Born at Cincinnati, Ohio, April 27, 1840; died at Brooklyn, N. Y., December 31, 1918. 

Special United States Commissioner of Mining Statistics west of the Rocky Mountains. 
One of the Founders of the American Institute of Mining Engineers. Vice-President 1871, 
1876, 1877; Pi-esident from 1872 to 1875; Secretary from 1884 to 1911; Secretary-Emeritus 
1911 to 1918. A mining engineer of distinction, professor, author, linguist, lawyer, editor, 
story-writer, musician, poel, biblical authority, etc. One of America's most brilliant and 
versatile men of science and literature — and withal of wide sympathies and loyal 
friendships. 



Plate XXVIII 




SAMUEL FRANKLIN EMMONS 



B.A. (Hmviird); D.Sc. iColunibin and Harvard); Freiberg, ISOI-tSGo 

liorn at Uoslon, March 29, ISIl; died March 28, 1911. 

One ol" America's gil'ted Mining (leolo-^ists. Harvard, 1801; Kcole Inipe'-riale dcs Mines. 
Paris, ujuler I-~lie de HeaLnnont and Dauhree. lSli2-lS)il. In ISliT joined the (leologieal 
ICxpluiatiini oT the I'urtii'lh Parallel under (.".laienee King, his associated geohtglsls being 
James 1). Hague and his brolher Arnold Hague. In ISSO organized the geohigical survey 
ol" the intricate Leadville district, Colorado, of which manuscript and maps were trans 
milled Pebruaiy S, lS8:i. Emmons was 
highest character 
thoroughness and 
porlant. He was 
Km rope. 

"SuTv. — The author, after graduation at rreiberg, 
in engiueeiing luuler I-^nnnons in (".oloiath) in IN8(I. 



or 



strikingly modest and kind personality; 4)f 
and professional Irnstwoiihiness ; while his work was marked l)y 
good jiulgnienl. His seientillc i>uhli cat ions are nunu'rous and im- 
a mendjer of many of the leading societies in the United Stales and 

had the lionor lo make his start 



FREIBERG LIFE— CONTRASTS— THEN AND NOW 

for law and order and for established proprieties and 
precedents was at the high mark then. 

Looking back to our days of foreign exile, the stu- 
dents must all admit their indebtedness to these sub- 
stantial families of Freiberg for the warm hospitality, 
intellectual and domestic, accorded them; and for the 
kindly interest in their well-being which often extended 
through the years beyond the termination of the course 
of studies. They were charitable to a fault in tolera- 
tion of the often thoughtless, inconsiderate foreigners; 
and some Americans, too, had their wild-Indian side of 
law-breaking raids and pranks, outraging to the peace- 
ful burghers by the spread of bad example. Toward 
all of these breaches in conventional moral codes of 
behavior and good manners, the authorities and citizens 
were good sports in their patient, indulgent, and philo- 
sophic bearing. Forestalling trouble from these esca- 
pades, there were issued to the students official identifi- 
cation cards, the surrender of which, in time of stress 
for almost any offense, acted as bonds for immediate 
release. 

In further retrospection, the conviction grows that in 
those days of untainted German manhood, high cul- 
tural standards, and original achievements, there was 
much to draw serious, open-minded Americans into 
close responsive sympathy with these sterling traits 
and the strong national appeals to the wholesome vir- 
tues of the simple life. 

The Americans and English were sociably united in 
the Anglo-American Club, active in Freiberg since the 
days of Rossiter W. Raymond — the associated Society 
in the United States being "The Old Freibergers in 
America," Charles L. Bryden, E.M. (Freiberg, 1907), of 
New York, Secretary, and which was formed at a 
much later date. They instituted, at intervals, athletic 
sporting contests, base-ball, cricket and skating per- 

C473 



A STUDENT REVERIE 



formances, meeting similar clubs in Dresden in com- 
petitive tournaments. These events, in the old days, at- 
tracted much skeptical attention from the curious Ger- 
mans who thronged the field under mental strain to 
discern the hidden meaning and joy of it all. On these 
occasions in Dresden, the queen sometimes graciously 
presented the allotted prizes. In this connection my 
recollection is still quite vivid of the time when John 
Hays Hammond, of Yale, though not of the long-legged 
Apollo type of beauty, carried off the first prize in the 
running contests. And this recalls the fact that young 
Jack Hammond was a popular favorite among the Frei- 
berg and Dresden clubs and social circles. This was 
due, in no small measure, to his wholesome interest in 
and promotion of athletics, combined with an admirable 
balance of judgment in advocating plenty of recreation 
to season up a foreign post-graduate course of study; 
for, indeed, he early learned abroad the importance of 
keeping the mind clear and unfatigued to combat the 
strain of life's sterner duties, never clogging the cere- 
bral mechanism, as it were, with surplus mental bag- 
gage. Rut, primarily, the secret of Jack's attractive per- 
sonality lay in a kindly attitude toward others, an 
abundance of radiant good will, modest bearing, good- 
fellowship, tact, and a responsive, sympathetic nature, 
all of which created in him the friend-making capacity 
throughout his eventful, dramatic career. The blend of 
these traits lends a certain tinge of lovableness and 
quality to a man, subtle and not readily analyzed, cre- 
ating in him the considerate gentleman of the heart, 
and more often reflecting the mother side of transmitted 
gentleness where the winning ways properly belong. 

Hammond's disposition and temperament were not 
of the boisterous, voluble sort. Quite the contrarj^ he 
was agreeably mild and receptive, suggesting the com- 
posed thinker and man of action. He early showed 
leanings toward the practical, operative side of affairs 

1:48: 




/ 






PLATE XXIX 



FREIBERG LIFE— CONTRASTS— THEN AND NOW 

rather than the diminutive technical details. Even then 
there was in evidence the latent bent to get at the heart 
of things by short-cut methods and direction along the 
lines of least resistance. He was a good, tolerant lis- 
tener, appreciative and duly weighing what the other 
fellow had to say, while he displayed marked capacity 
for discerning and sizing up generally worth-while men 
and situations — a very much "to the point" individual, 
indeed, with keen perception of the play and interplay 
in large-scale affairs. 

Through and through Jack was the American boy in 
every look and action. Starting on the Pacific coast, in 
California, and finishing on the Atlantic, at Yale, in his 
ante-Freiberg days, he could stretch three thousand 
miles more across to Europe, without the slightest con- 
tamination of his Americanism — of which mysterious 
complex article he had an abundance and of the right 
sort, all attractive and admirable. This popular and 
much abused term of the hour was then still in its pris- 
tine genuineness and single wholeness. 

Hammond had no need to shout his Americanism 
from the house-tops, in public meetings and canvasses 
for popular favor, even had these opportunities then 
been open. His was the quiet, self-understood and self- 
evident kind, forcible by weight of its inherent high 
class. So it would seem the subject of this talk was 
"some considerable fellow"; and to say the least, for 
scientific biological accuracy, he was assignable to the 
"Wunderkind" species. 

But this was not all. The forecasts of his varied 
talents and potential effectiveness are just beginning, so 
stand at attention and listen well! 

His method of procedure was frank directness along 
common-sense lines, with little noise or friction. For 
instance, had he continued later on his brief run in poli- 
tics and his lot been cast in the perplexing field of 
treaty-making, recently dominating public interest, he 

n493 



A STUDENT REVERIE 



could have made an efficient contribution, no doubt, and 
secured decisive results with use of less than the seven 
million words (with more to come) and the attendant 
lost motion characteristic of the recent senatorial ex- 
hibitions in Washington, his present home, in patriotic 
services to the nation! 

As a class, however, it would seem that engineers 
might not be expected to be the best adapted men by 
training, vocation, and ethical standards for aggressive 
political careers; or, at least, not for those activities in- 
volving personal oratorical proselyting for vote-catch- 
ing purposes. 

A philosopher in human nature with intriguing pro- 
clivities, not too pedantically conscientious, profession- 
ally or otherwise, and with ethics, if any, accommo- 
datingly elastic, careless and casual with facts and 
fairness, would more nearly fill the bill for this par- 
ticular phase of political life. 

It is apparently a far cry and deteriorating drop from 
the sober rationale and dignity of a profession built 
upon the exact sciences — embodying the highest forms 
of truth, service, and self-respect — down to the level of 
the cunning tactics, subtle intrigues, and the cheap- 
lawyer gallery plays of hypnotic political drives. For 
these not infrequently call for the deliberate fostering 
of every device of malice, hatred, scurrility, whimsical, 
unreasoning prejudice, personal stultification, sweep- 
ing denunciations, and the spirit of knockers and strik- 
ers in principle and action. And, furthermore, the sys- 
tem often exacts the withholding of credit where credit 
is due; the discrediting of worthy aims and prestige; 
inventing differences where none exist; exaggerations 
of trivialities and non-essentials into "grave issues" — 
all at the expense of the larger things in character, ca- 
pacity and service, which are purposely perverted, 
ignored, or smothered altogether. 

The resolve to secure a following and votes, honestly 



11503 



FREIBERG LIFE— CONTRASTS— THEN AND NOW 

if it may be, but to "get them" at all hazards, and the 
pledge to subordinate one's individual best and inde- 
pendence of conviction to boss dictations and partizan 
propaganda, playing on the whim, caprice, and passing 
fancy of the unthinking, credulous crowds, less fortu- 
nate in education and capacity, to rouse, inflame, and 
swerve them, are the entering wedges to this demoraliz- 
ing departure from the cleaner consistencies and higher 
level of professional principle and outlook. 

Between these two states of mind and ideals the gulf 
is amply wide for the intrusion of intellectual adven- 
turers and conscienceless, scheming pleaders, to con- 
taminate the better element. Filling an apparent de- 
mand and masquerading as pure reformers, they 
confuse and taint with hypocrisy and chicanery the 
political system and calling, clouding alike the standing 
and efforts of the really high-motived public men; and 
it is not uncommon for some of these to be relegated 
to the partizan scrap-heap as politically disqualified by 
reason of non-conformity — through the possession of 
too much sincerity in character and conduct. 

Under stress of the uncongenial exactions and nox- 
ious miasma of these depressing phases of political life, 
Hammond would find himself uncomfortably strait- 
jacketed and misplaced. 

How effective the present system of reaching, inform- 
ing, and handling the people will continue to be when 
in the years ahead our population shall have increased 
to one hundred and fifty millions and beyond, can only 
remain matter for speculative pondering. In any event, 
if it be deemed desirable to increase stability and de- 
crease hysteria in thought and action, it would seem the 
part of wisdom to devise and gradually develop some 
more accurate and responsible regime to eliminate, as 
far as possible, the spread of flagrant misinformation 
and subtle agitation designed to deceive and mislead; 
but for those of the "status quo" persuasion, who hold 



A STUDENT REVERIE 



that a background unreal and double must exist to bring 
out by contrast, in fullest relief and luster, the true and 
good, this suggestion may not find acceptance. Whether 
these campaigns of sinister motive are conducted 
through the press and secret societies of foreign sympa- 
thies and language or other public and private channels 
of information and education, the situation could be 
much improved and the atmosphere cleared if the per- 
petrators were run down and held to strictest account- 
ability. For false news and malicious reports are 
slowly, if ever, fully overtaken by even the most in- 
telligent contradiction and enlightening efforts for 
truthful correction; hence much of the damage remains 
unrepaired. 

In the formative period of youth and through the 
many years of prolonged study and mental training, the 
mind and education are safeguarded with much solici- 
tude; although the classes less fortunately situated, in 
point of educational opportunities, are left to drift from 
early years. Following the study period, the law con- 
tinues to protect the individual against himself and 
others, in respect to physical and moral conditions and 
rights, and this means, of course, defense of civilization 
itself. Why should not the healthful condition and 
moralities of the mind be likewise safeguarded as the 
years go on, at least to a considerably further extent 
than now? 

Since body and conduct are regulated and protected 
for the good of all, why should mentality and capacitj^ 
for judgment in the years beyond young manhood be 
doomed to drift in foggy unwholesome atmosphere, 
without rudder or anchor, unguarded and neglected — 
all for sweet liberty's sake? And this problem of mind 
protection and fostering of healthful intelligence is of 
greatest importance for the very classes usually de- 
prived of educational advantages, and who in conse- 
quence are the easier prey of clever, designing misedu- 

[52:1 



Platk XXX 




WALUEMAR LINDGREN 

Born at Kalmar, Sweden, February 11, 1860 
M.E., School of Mines, Freiberg, 1883; LL.D., Princeton, 1918 
Now Professor of Geology at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In 1883 joined 
Ihe Northern Transcontincnlal Geological Survey under Raphael Pumpelly, organized 
by the Northern Pacific R. R. Later geologist with the United States Geological Survey, 
employed in the special study of metal-mining districts. In 1907 was put in full charge 
of all the U. S. Geological Survey work in metal-mining districts and metal statistics. 
In 1898 Associate Professor of Mining and Metallurgy at Stanford University. From 1908 
to 1910 Lecturer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology on economic geology. Lind- 
gren is an accurate and well-equipped observer and interpreter of mining geology — his 
mind running specially to the physical conditions under which the vein and ore minerals 
have formed, such as high temperature, medium and low temperature minerals. Among 
bis works "Mineral Deposits" is widely known. His professional standing is of the 
highest. 



Plate XXXI 




JAMES BENTOxX CHANT 
Freiberg, 1870 

Horn, Russcl CoiiiUy, Alalmnui. .T:imi:iry 2, ISIS; died ;il ICxccl.sior Spiinss, Miss<uiri. 
N()V('inl)pr 1, 1911. (Jovernnr U>('iu.) ol" Coloriulo, ISvSaiSS.'). 

Otic of llie rouiulcrs of Iciwi-silver snu'lting in Coloijulo; Ihe r.iiinl works nl Lt':ul- 
villo; the Oninhn and Cinint Snu-Ilins ('o., evciilually merged intit llio Anicrifan 

Snu'IIinf; um] ]\rt]\unii, Cn., Ihc I;ut;rsl i-oiu-crn of Us kind in llu' I'nilcd Stairs, if nnt in 
llic woilil. (Haul was a Soulln'rncr (if hif^li tiualily. and of ;ictill<\ inodcsl personality. 
He was a slcrlin^^ i-haraclcr. and l"i*'il)cr;:;<Ts knew hint to he a conj^cnial, Irni', steadfast 
friend. As (Mtvertuii' of the State and tin- head of lar^ie corporate interests, he l)eeanie 
an ini]>ortaiit n;;nre in th<- risinj^ social, politieat, and indnslrial life of C.oloradn a 
jradin^; cili/eri htt;hly respected and lieloved by all parlies and chisscs. 



FREIBERG LIFE— CONTRASTS— THEN AND NOW 

cators — the bandit intellectuals of depraved design who 
undermine the fundamental standards of law and order. 

The pity of it all — that we, among the scores of mil- 
lions who must perish in the effort of preparing the 
way for others, may not for our pains even be specta- 
tors to watch the fray and listen to the praise or censure 
for our daring efforts and counsel, as the case may be! 

As monumental records of all of the wear and tear 
of our political contests in time, words, and sentiment, 
inexcusably wasteful to the casual observer, are the 
hundreds if not thousands of tons of controversial lit- 
erature, much of it of the cheap fiction, dime-novel style 
of exciting, extravagant presentation, all making for 
the bewilderment and consternation of a considerable 
section of the indulgent, confiding community. 

Everything being styled as "fair in politics," the broad 
license, suffered by usage, in the methods and proce- 
dure of the "outs" against the "ins," goes even beyond 
the limitations of the judge-controlled ethics of courts 
of law; and the secret rankle of the one unpardonable 
crime that the "ins" are "in" and the "outs" are "out," 
accelerates the lowering standards of the contest. All 
ambition for lofty statesmanship in truth and principle, 
relegated to worse than secondary consideration, be- 
comes superseded by animus and sinister resolve for 
personal revenge and displacement. The canvassing is 
cloaked in cunningest plausibility of presentation sug- 
gestive of the brilliant, gifted criminal-lawyer type of 
mind, struggling on the wrong side to defeat the ends 
of justice. 

Moreover, in the heat of this splendid contest, devel- 
oped in the friction of partizan debate and fervor, the 
paramount interests of patriotism, welfare of country 
and individual, are overshadowed by the smaller aims 
of spite, envy, and personal ambition — ^not what is best 
or should be, but what can be put over for the cause of 
dispossession! 

[1533 



A STUDENT REVERIE 



Such are the distressing, anomalous situations in poli- 
tics that would naturally grate on the love for fair play, 
and dampen the enthusiasm of the Hammond type of 
sensitively organized college man. 

But the veterans in this temperamental department 
of human affairs have only compassionate smiles for 
the uninitiated. They understand, as did old Barnum, 
our instructive circus philosopher and prince of enter- 
tainers, the wide demand and high market value for 
"humbug's" mission divine, to work the public and 
eliminate the drag in serious pursuits. And was he not 
also a great (circus) constructive engineer? 

Thus in this broader aspect, the froth and bubbles of 
our politics, apparently the indispensable accompani- 
ments of progressive governmental wisdom and im- 
provement, might fmd charitable interpretation by a 
senatorial psychological economist, as the fire-works of 
human nature — a form of beneficent humbug, as it 
were, or a useful poker to stir into glow the slumbering 
embers of the torpid mind! 

And so our ever resourceful, wiggling politician 
would contend that his function is quite up-to-date in 
economics and well in line with natural science, against 
which "his system" commits no infractions of nature's 
laws; and moreover, that any "wasted effort" by "his 
kind" is either only apparent, or, if present at all, serves 
the important mission of mental seasoning for the fray, 
which at the very worst is but the political poker-bluff- 
ing of our national life — all part of the greater game 
of living and succeeding! His economists he would 
quote, in their expounding of "Nature's way of doing 
things," as proclaiming accomplishments achieved only 
by greatest prodigality and waste of natural energj'^ and 
resource — as, in mining, the winning of the precious 
metals involves the high cost of prospecting, then of 
handling and disposing of much waste rock, slag and 



Plate XXXII 




AN AMERICAN UNDEKGUOUND THREESOME 

Freiberg, 1877 

lames R. Grant on left — later on Governor of Colorado 



Plate XXXIII 




AN INTEHNATIONAL THIO OF COXVIVIAL FHRIBKHGE HS 

1875-1880 

111 flicss uiiirorin nf the Ai;iihiiiy 

Ciond old F.iiKkiml, llu' Uiiilcil SlilU-s, :uiil (::iikic1;i 

.Messrs. \\hilc, .Mclice, anil Piallcii 

Piico-selU'rs in "lii[iii(I;ilicnr* — 

ill Us luighl, whvn not to drink copiously was Iiiid lonn 



FREIBERG LIFE— CONTRASTS— THEN AND NOW 

dross, besides actual metallic loss in process, before the 
pure bullion bars become available for market! 

Hence the exasperating but entertaining man of poli- 
tics, in his boundless assurance and plausibility, ever 
ready with wily, wriggling rejoinders, comes danger- 
ously near convincing us of his abundant fitness for 
professional recognition and admission, qualifying as 
our marvelous composite oracle: a Mephistopheles-ex- 
pert in human nature and consulting engineer of the 
political machine — the biggest motive forces in Ameri- 
can fevered life! Yet we must insist on one reserva- 
tion, forever non-destructible, and for self-preserva- 
tion : that engineers be not pledged to the exciting ethics 
of our new member's loose talk and shifty ways, per- 
missible in his calling, perhaps, without loss of standing 
or job, but not so in ours. 

By way of reciprocation, nevertheless, and without 
the popular "reservation or amendment," we joyfully 
accept him henceforth as our invigorating excitant 
(after business hours!) now that cocktails are relegated 
to the secret vices. And under this new stimulus, but 
still fondly recollecting the old vitalizer, we discover 
that a change of angle means change of outlook; and 
that if ever-evolving viewpoint and setting form life's 
panorama, a politician's status must be among the 
higher vibrations of molecular activity, creating him, at 
one stroke, an object of deepest scientific interest. Mexi- 
cans, too, thrive well on these rapid changes; and the 
Irish, no less, who most surely excel in war and death 
— and in peace that's never peaceful; while under this 
law of rapid change even a funeral becomes a cheerful 
holiday invigoration — if only under Irish setting! 

Again in the ecstasy and cozy intimacy of this belated 
discovery, and the plighted mystic union with our com- 
posite-oracle, a sense of possible guilt possesses our 
anxious souls, lest through narrowness of conception 

ess: 



A STUDENT REVERIE 



we have too long withheld compassionate indulgence for 
this latest of living hypnotic fads. For, since his con- 
version to the higher ethics, and craving forgiveness in 
touching, silent penitence, his one pious confessional 
whisper is that he "wants to be good but he dassent." 
And now in all sympathy, and in the ever enticing and 
hopeful vision of enduring reform, his past trials begin 
to loom big with purifying intent; so, in the dazzle of 
the moment, our new-born political evangelist at last 
shines out with ever-increasing halo-radiance, as of the 
glorious martyr days of hero persecution. 

Indeed, in this liberalized view the political tempera- 
mental spellbinder, by dint of his persuasion, now 
looms up in the majesty of a serious competitor among 
the dry men of science; and, "for richer or poorer," as 
he has taught us to obey, we take him in for peace on 
earth and good-will toward men; and incidentally to 
add his favor to our waning assets. But Barnum, too, 
must be included — that the fall from grace may be en- 
trancingly complete, or can it be to consecrate for big- 
ger feats? Which shall be our fate, since thus we learn 
to say Amen to many things? 

After all, then, the startling exceptions in nature, the 
big things and events, are what save and count; and 
might it not well fall to the lot of a lucky Freiberger to 
become one of the shooting stars of unequivocal clean 
purpose and yet good fortune in public life? This 
should occasion no surprise, for it has been conclusively 
shown — or is about to be — that no limitations can be 
placed upon the high reaches in capacity and perform- 
ance that a disciple of this forum of science may attain 
to! And have we not also seen that such an one, from 
earliest beginnings, is an expert interpreter of the 
"freaks of Nature," deep down in the earth and on its 
surface alike? 

Accordingly, for the everlasting renown of Freiberg 
mining engineers, we must insist that Hammond could, 



Caen 



Plati: XXXIV 




A FREIBERG MINE SURVEY PARTY 
1878 



Plate XXXV 




AN UNDERGROUND ANGLO-AMERICAN QUINTETTE 

Ereibcrg, 1877 

l-'raiikliii Ciuiloriiuui of New York holdiiii,' hainnier on knee 



FREIBERG LIFE— CONTRASTS— THEN AND NOW 

perchance, have ironed out into homogeneous concert 
of agreement and action on a precise basis for enlight- 
enment and world improvement, the bewildering dis- 
cordant chorus of the noisy political factions of the 
hour, all boasting in partizan exploitations the exclusive 
discovery and monopoly of the one genuine American- 
ism worth while. Only the ability derived from Frei- 
berg's charmed life could produce a mining engineer to 
cope with this political menagerie of dispositional mar- 
vels in the hectic atmosphere of party contests, pictur- 
esquely dubbed: the bitterenders, nullifiers, near-nulli- 
fiers, mild reservationists, atheistic reservationists, 
plausibility experts in constitution twisting, quack 
medicinizers of public opinion. Article X misinter- 
preters, reactionaries, peace-breaking political engi- 
neers, oppositionists, Roosevelt Ananiasists, obsessional 
oppositionists, irreconcilables, contemptible quitters, 
etc. Witness the spontaneous, haphazard creation of 
our transitory American titles of democracy's court at 
Washington compared to the far greater Freiberg as- 
sortment of jaw-breaking clang, thundering with im- 
perial sanction and permanently anchored in the very 
rocks of geologic ages! 

The task of orderly classification and subdual of our 
acrobats of the political arena, some worthy and well- 
intentioned, could not have added to Hammond's sur- 
prise or consternation after his world-wide experiences 
in Freiberg and other collections of curios, and his sub- 
sequent wanderings in all quarters of the globe, because 
he was from all time designed for a tactful, far-seeing 
man, out to conciliate and win. Making a political 
foot-ball of a great piece of constructive work and of 
the word Americanism, daily inventing corruptions of 
this thrilling slogan, would be in the line of a versatile 
mining expert to circumvent; and reinforced with Yale 
foot-ball credentials, among other things, he could 
handle well a jockeying game, 

i:57n 



A STUDENT REVERIE 



Rut Hammond may tell us he could do nothing of the 
kind, and that these titled seers of the new world, as of 
the old, are his particular friends, all wholly in accord; 
and, furthermore, that he accomplished little at Frei- 
berg and learned less. Rut don't mind him; these are 
merely the cautious, modest disclaimers of a more mod- 
est man. Come what may, we shall not tolerate the 
Academy being robbed of the prestige of his success. 
R needs it all at this very moment! In any event, he 
will not deny he had a grand time learning there that 
he had much yet to learn and some day must get busy 
filling out the missing links — so some progress was, 
after all, recorded. Anyhow, it mattered little, for Frei- 
berg's name and magic carried a long way! Moreover, 
the "Vaterland" propaganda of the Kaiser, in all his 
glory, proclaimed all big men and things to be German 
or of German origin; even Adam spoke the language, 
and Eve, of course, more so. It follows by royal sanc- 
tion, with equal force, that all real engineers are Frei- 
bergers; so come what may, we are safe and sure for 
all time. Rut for magnanimity and solace to the less 
fortunate, forever condemned to mediocrity, we ac- 
knowledge some embarrassment at the riddle of science 
still unsolvable: how mountain-peak men of the Wil- 
son, Hoover types ever came to be without Freiberg at 
their backs! And this suggests that to foil the unreason- 
ing, vehement allegations of shortcomings heaped upon 
our leaders in direct proportion to their superior power, 
patriotic purpose, and services performed, and like 
manifestations of human weakness and imperfections, 
the Freiberg perfecting germ must in the last analysis 
forever be the cure for accuser and accused alike! 
Could mortal man ask more from foreign education? 
And let this be no jest, for does not a mining engineer's 
training cover in its versatility, practical and academic 
as recorded in the foregoing pages, all that's known in- 
side the earth, on its top and heavenward as well? 



1158] 



Plate XXXVI 




A YALE FREIBERG TRIO (1877) 
Cunningham Hawley Hammond (John Hays) 



Plate XXXVII 




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PARADE LNIl-Omi 



I-RAXKI.IN GUITHRMAN AT 

FHElIiERG, 1877 

A leatliT in American Metallin'ffy 




A C.l.IiMAMZi:!) AMi;iUC.AN I ill . I 111 .ltd 

DANDY 

III' llu' early eorps ^Uldenl tla>s 

(A. .1. Howie, I'reiberg, KS(ll) 



F.DOAn P. RATIIllONE 

of London anil Smitli Afrie: 

(rrciberg, 187S) 



FREIBERG LIFE— CONTRASTS— THEN AND NOW 

Again, in more serious strain but not forgetting for a 
minute our chronic student conceit: The proposition 
is advanced that of all the different national combina- 
tions of Freibergers, the American Freiberger enjoyed 
the best chances, other things being equal, of eventually 
attaining to relatively superior position in breadth of 
intellectual development, balanced judgment, and fit- 
ness for leadership in any community, over a wide 
range of human activities. More than mere loyalty and 
enthusiasm for one's foreign Alma Mater seems to war- 
rant this bold claim, made by a student with a back- 
ground of generations of purely American ancestry on 
both sides. For in this educational union we must 
surely recognize the inimitable effectiveness of the 
American foundation of natural alertness and practical 
versatility, bred in the very air of new-world movement 
and expansion — coupled, in the maturing years of edu- 
cation, with the seasoning influences of old-world sub- 
stantialities. These consist chiefly in thoroughness of 
investigation and methodical procedure, all nurtured in 
the infectious atmosphere of inspiring traditions and 
those high ideals which attain to fullest ripeness under 
the inherited sturdy character and solid standards of 
the older countries — conditions born alone of long cen- 
turies of earnest endeavor. Then, too, while old Frei- 
berg was furnishing the very useful cultural opportunity 
of acquiring one or two foreign languages, it afforded 
concurrently the broadening experience of meeting 
many different kinds of people of various nationalities 
and corresponding diversities of viewpoints. Function- 
ing on these lines as a supplementary educational field, 
all of these facilities were at their best during the middle 
period of the institution, long before the material de- 
cline of the Freiberg mines and the subsequent lamen- 
table moral bankruptcy of the German Empire. 

Finally, then, may not the merits of the combined 
educational system, American plus European, even now 

1:593 



A STUDENT REVERIE 



be gratefully admitted, without humiliating disparage- 
ment of our own capacity or expressed disloyalty to 
home and country? And, smart as we were and are 
"over here," may we not still benefit by the "over there" 
ripe experience and learning in all departments of hu- 
man affairs, for their invaluable finish, repose, and 
tonic-brace, in solidifying and rounding out our Ameri- 
can education, our outlook, and our judgment capacity? 
Fortunately, in things academic and intellectual, the 
paralyzing doctrine and insidious microbe of deadlevel- 
ism, so popular in certain other departments of local 
thought, have not so far broken into educational stand- 
ards as to make it thoroughly bad form, if not an un- 
pardonable sin, to have been somewhere, seen some- 
thing, and done something! The opposite contention 
means that we "have arrived," know it all, and prefer 
the lesser burden of responsibility of stagnating undis- 
turbed, within a narrower horizon of knowledge and 
outlook; thereby avoiding all progressive risks of dab- 
bling in world knowledge and affairs beyond our own 
borders, and camouflaging the retreat by morbid waves 
of withering denunciation of European standards and 
worth. In thus securing exemption from excommuni- 
cation by the fashionables of fiat conservatism, and 
escaping banishment among the "undesirables" and 
"visionaries," we subscribe to one of the most domi- 
nating of the a la mode preaching fads of the present 
kaleidoscopic times. But, if optimistically inclined, we 
may assume this eloquent creed of contraction and 
premium on laziness to be only transitory. In any 
event, we confidently look for its rapid decadence after 
fulfilment of its ulterior mission to establish a guardian- 
ship over respectability and legalities and as a salva- 
tion-device for conversion from the backsliding errors 
of our waysl Mayhap this forecast will prove true with 
time and we may yet "look about a bit" and admire 
without suffering accusations of heresy. 

CGO] 



Plate XXXVIII 




A REAL GERMAN HEAUTY 
Fraulein B.M. 

In costume of the classic period as licroine of tlte Flying 
Dulchman, combining the Geiman ideals of music, face, 
figure, and domestic thrift. 



Plate XXXIX 



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CESAR VICUNA, E.M. (FREIBERG, 1878) 

of Valparaiso, Chile 

Graduated at Froiborg about 1881 

A picliircsquc mcnibci- of our South Anicriiiin i-otcric in fancy dioss for a Dresden haU. 

The gifletl son of n pi"()niin('n( .Spanish-Auu'rican family of oltl-world eultnre and 
power. An attraelive lioy of Parisian tastes and ideas \\llo know life and aspireil l»t 
miss nottiin^^. Attaelu- of tlie (■.Iilleau Legation in I'aris. An aeeni)ij)tisli<-<l linguist and 
violini.st, seliolar of Charles Uanela of Paris. -My genial chum and roonunate. 



FREIBERG LIFE— CONTRASTS— THEN AND NOW 

Engineers, as a class, are forward-looking, forward- 
moving people, preferring this function to side-stepping 
and retrogression; and, like most other persons, they 
are at their best in an optimistic attitude of mind and in 
the more genial practical activities of construction, up- 
building, growth, and expansion — in contradistinction 
to the role of dyspeptic immobile beings freely dis- 
pensing wise counsels and warnings to cover poverty 
of resource and inaction. 

There are in the American Institute of Mining and 
Metallurgical Engineers alone 8500 members; and with 
the other three foundation societies, the Electrical, Me- 
chanical, and Civil Engineers, plus the membership of 
various other professional branches — all centering in 
the Engineering Societies Building, 29 West 39th Street, 
New York, gift of Andrew Carnegie, the great and good 
— over 60,000 of all kinds of engineers, representatives 
of a total of 300,000 (including assistants) in the United 
States. In the ocean of knowledge and achievement 
represented by these architects of civilization, modest 
old-fashioned Freiberg may indeed appear as a small 
drop — but of quality "high grade," all pure and spark- 
ling, nevertheless. 

Fortunately, the disintegrating, dissolving, and "un- 
scrambling" of the complicated relations and delicate 
adjustments of civilization, won at great cost, are not the 
preferential ambitions of the profession or the domi- 
nating occupations and motive forces that move the 
world. 

When the "blind staggers" of present confused ideas 
and abnormal activities shall have run their course and 
the bleeding operation subsided, the community will 
feel gratefully relieved; and perhaps the reformers, 
too, will appease their anger toward those who have 
achieved and continued unreformed. Meantime we are 
hoping on that the extreme, half-baked theories and 
propaganda of the times may die like germs in the sun- 

ten 



A STUDENT REVERIE 



light, and that enlightened reason, restored standards, 
and a healthful outlook will dominate once more. 

Luckily the broader and truer democracy in things 
technical, academic, and scholastic is still preventing 
the intellectual, corporeal, and moral isolation in these 
fields, so plausibly urged in respect to many of the other 
great questions of the present complex period, as the 
Holy Trinity of conservatism, safety, and good morals. 

May it not well be, however, that these post-war ten- 
dencies to doubt, deny, question, reverse, and react are 
also remotely, if not directly, the jarring reflections of 
the seemingly incurable shell shocks that produce the 
hard and crazy aftermath of war? Sent traveling 
around the world for years, the stupendous, paralyzing 
concussions and upheavals in the bulwarks of civiliza- 
tion have made slow-healing if not irreparable breaks 
in the body politic and in established order — as in min- 
ing geology we first became familiar with faults, drags, 
and dislocations in continuity of strata and formation, 
resulting from huge, immeasurable dynamic forces 
breaking through zones of least resistance. 

Indeed, in these most modern days, many are the sur- 
prising changes along these lines that would greet, say, 
an old Rip Van Winkle Freiberger awakening on our 
shores; perhaps a pessimistic wag of the quaint serio- 
comic philosophic type, nourished on beer from child- 
hood's earliest happy hour. Ushered into these days of 
tedious reforms and confronting the twist that has pos- 
sessed our latest policies and rulings, which inflict upon 
"free people" (so-called) the tortures of olden mar- 
tyrdom, his brain-storm would be a subject fit for 
scientific observation. And one may imagine the strong 
language in his comments on the strange duplicates and 
mysterious inconsistencies of our stock eulogies on "The 
Land of Liberty" and "The New Freedom" — preten- 
sions exploited in patriotic magazines and anniversary 
celebrations, and all without a smile I Our veteran 



1:623 



Plate XL 




NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA AT FREIBERG 

in 1878 

Frederick Gleason Corning, New York. Cesar Vieuiia, Valparaiso, Chile 



Plate XLI 




A TRIO OF KID-GLOVE MIXERS 
Fri'iberg, 1877 
E. Stoibcr F. Corning F. Guilcrnuin 



FREIBERG LIFE— CONTRASTS— THEN AND NOW 

wanderer's meditations would continue along the fol- 
lowing strain with rising intonations in his wise out- 
givings: 

"Little wonder that the penetrating innovations of 
drastic reforms, tainting club and home with chill and 
liquid intrigue, have perverted all concepts of these most 
intimate of domestic assets! Or must our new inter- 
pretation of Home, Sweet Home acquire added depth 
as a storage reservoir for booze, while clubs, once by 
law convivial exchanges, are now clearing houses for 
sportive sympathy and costly retreats for sobering up 
the home-made jags! 

"Shocking disciplines, where will they end! Not yet 
or here, for hark: The family doctors, once conserva- 
tive in principle and of strict decorum, are now im- 
portuned to become traveling bars with prescription 
pads in hand, or forfeit remunerative practice among 
patients of distinction; drug pests and plants, now flour- 
ishing from traffic in corrupting concoctions masquer- 
ading under absurd names, have taken on new meaning 
and recognition; safe deposits and home vaults for 
watered stocks and precious metals now yield space for 
more precious booze and rare wines, the new-fashioned 
temptations of high-class burglars! 

"The dreaded submarine torpedo, tame and void of 
fiendish explosives (since peace that is or isn't!) but 
filled with standard stock of old, now makes merry 
cruises on peaceful missions across the border rivers, 
from kindly shores of sympathetic drinking neighbors. 
Beloved of 'legislators and enforcers of the act,' these 
'strong' connecting links between the friendly nations 
cheer in holy secret parched throats that breathed re- 
form — which passeth understanding ever more! 

"These thrusts at the heart of metropolitan sociabili- 
ties are no added balm to withstand the grave strains 
on the strands of the delicate net of civilization. 



A STUDENT REVERIE 



"And now, as finale to the overture of the chanting 
reformers and that the national presto tempo may suf- 
fer no diminuendo, the characteristic flurry is on of 
repenting at leisure for the sweeping impulsive legis- 
lation. Hence the era of chastened efforts at reversal 
is at hand, with comforting counsel of ablest legal talent 
to circumvent the law; and while we think and thirst, 
the vision of things now illegal becoming legal once 
again provides the new excitement of the hour." 

So, living in memories fond, our traveler, too, joins 
in our childlike submission; and together we suffer "for 
the cause" with sacrificial resignation and consciences 
clear as of heroes for the general good, who, in recorded 
history of the centuries to come, will be looked back 
upon with pious veneration, as brave New York saints 
of the classic age of freedom and restriction. 

But still at sea as to the justice and wisdom of it all, 
we turn again, for peace of mind and to forget our 
thirst and isolation, to the student life of younger days, 
with its lighter and more entertaining personal recollec- 
tions. Once more, then, with Hammond's consent, his 
cheering career of foreign education must be drawn 
upon for some real enlightenment and refreshing con- 
trasts to the heavy, mournful topics of our present-day 
trials and tribulations. Recalling vividly his buoyant 
disposition quickly dispels the musings and tedious 
lamentations of old age, and compels our yielding, in 
longing memory at least, to the rejuvenescent fascina- 
tions of those quaint old-world times, a half century 
back, with their inspirational setting of romantic har- 
monies, and the soothing repose and contentment then 
seemingly permeating all classes and situations. 

Back in those days of youthful aspiration and tem- 
peramental effervescence. Jack early showed a predis- 
position to excel in the domain of romanticism as well. 
And here it was that a certain captivating cavalier smile. 



x; 




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53 






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FREIBERG LIFE— CONTRASTS— THEN AND NOW 

all his own, stood him in good stead, as a useful equip- 
ment for long and close-range feminine exploitation. 
But this smile, which he was about to capitalize for good 
and all, also camouflaged a cute, knowing twinkle that 
forecast merrily clever business whirls to happen in ex- 
citing times to come. These early manifestations of 
talents for preferred capitalization also furnished one 
more excuse for taking sufficient time off to place him- 
self under the proper affinity-incentive in Dresden for 
the rapid incubation of these gifts. And so it happened 
at the close of his academic course that his first really 
momentous endeavor and irrepressible ambition in life 
became accomplished facts, for Miss Natalie Harris of 
Virginia had finally become sufficiently smile-enslaved 
to agree to the early solemnization of a "for better or 
for worse" contract. Thereby the daughter of Judge 
J. W. M. Harris and niece of General Nathaniel Harris, 
who was then also in Dresden, hopelessly assumed all 
the risks and hardships of a mining career, doubly com- 
pounded by gambling on the personal uncertainties of 
a mining engineer of then unknown quantity. That 
this double mining play also turned out well is a matter 
of common knowledge in "our set." 

Jack's Americanism, therefore, ranged high in affairs 
of the heart. Never for a moment did he become Ger- 
manized, diluted or scarred — as far as we knew, of 
course. It is only common chivalry, however, to admit 
that his foreign tongue-courting vocabulary was fatally 
limited, though its quality may have been shrewdly and 
effectively selected. At all events, he could look the 
part, but would that have sufficed in a land talkative and 
eloquent in argument and philosophy? There might 
have been a call from a Madchen's court of highest 
reason for more convincing evidence than mere longing 
glances, when his predicament would have been grave, 
indeed. But we may be sure his generous nature would 
wish any apparent indifference or neglect of local 



A STUDENT REVERIE 



charmers to be entirely charged to diffidence and lack of 
fluency — so let it go at that. Perhaps some day, in tot- 
tering old age, he will unfold these secrets, with auto- 
biographic frankness, to his wide circle of admiring but 
inquisitive friends of old. For, now secure in his long- 
established independence, he could release a confes- 
sional whisper with small risk of jealous attack; besides, 
it is even claimed big men become the bigger for frank 
confession of early failures! 

So then, assuming a parental tone (but quite pain- 
fully, for it goes against the grain of the writer's ambi- 
tions for everlasting youth), it must in justice be ad- 
mitted that "Jackie," thus fondly dubbed by one who 
knew, was a "good boy," among other things — albeit 
not in a too Puritan sense; for how could it have been 
otherwise, when his precious time was all taken up 
"a-courting" — perforce of tender influences, to be sure? 
And what envious cynic dare venture the suggestion 
that in other circumstances Jack might have added to 
the world's entertainment an eminent career of monu- 
mental dissipation! If another good fellow was barely 
saved for the righteous distinction of mankind, all hail 
to his alert and attractive fiancee and to the mysterious 
ways and victories of love, even among hardened, de- 
spairing miners! 

These reminiscences of Hammond, inspired by recall 
of a close friendship founded in the long ago, glow with 
increasing warmth as, in the ransacking of memory, 
visions of the "old grown young" break through the past 
now dimmed with years, and materialize once more into 
living realities of charm and comfort. 

To dwell at some length on his part in those Saxon 
days of hope and vision seems but natural when reviv- 
ing memories unforgettable of the fond, enduring ties 
of American student life abroad; and also recalling his 
leadership in the many varied events and crises typical 
of his character and the times he then and later passed 



ces] 




MARION ADELINE VERNON CORNING 



PLATE XLIil 



FREIBERG LIFE— CONTRASTS— THEN AND NOW 

through. For all in all, Hammond's career has been 
unique in its attractive disclosure of a versatility of 
tastes and talents backed by motor forces of enterprise 
and initiative. Hence who could better serve as a cen- 
tral figure for reveries of a Freiberg past? This ap- 
parent partiality does not, of course, imply that there 
were no other talented men and good fellows of our 
time to whom much of interest attaches. But all could 
not lead in the investment finance of mining engineer- 
ing; and if some one had to bear the honorable burden 
of professional prominence or the exhilaration of be- 
ing in the public eye with all its attendant responsi- 
bilities, as one may choose to view it, why not Ham- 
mond? 

And now returning to Dresden, only an hour from 
Freiberg; this lovely capital with its art, music, and at- 
tractive foreign colony was in reality a refreshing oasis 
of inspiring charm and resource for the comforting re- 
suscitation of the rusty and frequently demoralized 
Freibergers. For, after all is said, homesickness often 
made the mining capital appear sadly rugged and crude, 
high-sounding perhaps in poetry, but suffering by con- 
trast with even the prose of sweet Dresden and its fair 
visitors in the foreign colony. In the raw, misty, win- 
ter-time, a mournful, morose tone would possess the 
old academy town, which was accentuated by the an- 
cient spectral shafts scattered through the city, whose 
automatic tolling bells signaled in the black night to 
the watch above and to the home-bound student that the 
pumps were running and all was well below. 

So it will be readily understood that Freiberg could 
become painfully monotonous without our periodic 
visits to beautiful Dresden, close at hand, with its many 
pretty American and English girls there assimilating the 
stored culture of the ages, and always ready to dispense 
their most favored consideration to the properly accred- 
ited Freibergers, who were regarded as the coming 

167-2 



A STUDENT REVERIE 



supermen in those days of simple vision, faith, and 
student ideals. 

Those pilgrimages to the Saxon capital where the 
American and English boys went in groups (shall we 
say for reorganization of esthetic and moral standards 
among other things?) formed a very dominating and 
agreeable feature of our foreign sojourn. With all of 
German thoroughness, however, there was no course of 
lectures at the Academy covering these particular cul- 
tural expeditions, so we were thrown solely upon our 
own resources and wits, to return to our mountain 
home whole and solvent from these sociological and 
gastronomical reconnoiters of lively gait in the hotels, 
operas, theaters, the American Club, and dance-halls of 
this loveliest of art centers. 

The depressing "Katzenjammer," or next day reac- 
tion, from these progressive round-ups, recalls that 
among Freiberg's sins it had the reputation of being a 
"fast, dissipated" place, terrorizing terms of the once 
strict old Puritan regime; and there is no denying that 
it had a strong human side among the many charms of 
its character make-up. 

Fully apprehending these youthful pitfalls, many a 
parental admonition must still be echoing in the stu- 
dents' memories of the fond good-bys and letters from 
home. But Freiberg had a stupendous reputation to 
sustain for completeness in education which it could ill 
afford to risk by any form of narrowness or neglect. 
So if demand arose for the complete unfolding of life's 
panorama, there was, let it be admitted, latent talent 
in this direction as well. At all times, however, a pre- 
ponderance of serious inducements and legitimate at- 
tractions was in evidence to stabilize evil forces and 
safeguard the student morale in the quest of the solid 
things. 

Indeed, if the kaleidoscopic shifts in worldly affairs, 
good and bad alike, must sooner or later be forced upon 



1681 




FREDERICK GLEASON CORNING. E. M.. LL. D. 

(FREIBERG 187S-1B79) 
WHOSE FATHER REV. JAMES LEONARD CORNING, SENT HIM TO THE ROYAL 
MINING ACADEMY Ol^ THE RECOMMENDATION OF HORACE GREELEY^ WHO FORE- 
SAW THE GREAT FUTURE OF MINING ENGINEERING IN THE UNITED STATES. 

PLATE XLIV 



FREIBERG LIFE— CONTRASTS— THEN AND NOW 

the vision of rising, inquiring youth, why not have these 
character tests and medicinal experiences worked out 
amid the sugar-coated and sobering incentives of a Frei- 
berg setting? Perhaps, after all, then, our indebtedness 
to foreign education of old was increased by this bonus 
culture in Bohemian romance and revelry — the liberal- 
ism of the modern day making for symphonic develop- 
ment and happy balance of faculties so well and ably 
pioneered by Freiberg's gentle pace. 

Captivating Freiberg of youth's loving memories, en- 
duringly wrapt in grateful hearts, would that we might 
meet again as in the years forever past! And now, per- 
haps, by this time the courageous reader has become 
half-way convinced that, after all, there may be some- 
thing in this Freiberg badinage! But if in his estima- 
tion this Saxon burg be still not quite the one bright 
particular garden-spot of all creation, then is it not, in 
all reason, at least a mining classic of the highest order? 
But should this, too, be in his doubts, and he also re- 
main unconvinced of the superman powers of mining 
engineers, after the procession of Immortals proudly 
paraded before him, let him, if he can, turn back the 
world and his skeptic self to 1875-1880, and in his re- 
covered youth bask in Freiberg's inspiring trinitarian 
atmosphere of history, romance, and learning, to 
qualify his verdict, or forever hold his peace in rever- 
ential memory of the hour just lived in "perfectly good 
society." 



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